I had heard the rumors, but I had not seen any sort of definitive confirmation. Then after the game last night I switched channels and saw it as plain as day.
Eddie Murphy, one of the greatest comedians of all time and star of some of my favorite movies, is indeed dead.
The confirmation came while I was watching The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Eddie was the first guest. Even though he was promoting a movie I intend on avoiding like the swine flu (Imagine That), I was still excited to see him. After all, I had heard rumors of his demise and even seen evidence to support those rumors (Norbit, Meet Dave). I was concerned. I wanted to see that he was okay.
Ten minutes later, after one of the lamest interviews ever (seriously, Jouaquin Phoenix was a livelier guest), there was no doubt about it. The Eddie Murphy I had grown to know and love, the Eddie of Raw, Delirious, Coming to America, Trading Places, SNL, and Beverly Hills Cop I and II, was gone forever. Now we are only left with this douchebag who is better known as that black spice girl’s baby daddy
.
A single tear rolled down my cheek. It was such a sad moment for me.
Looking back now, it is clear to me that I have been living in denial. Eddie has really been dead for years. It’s really sort of difficult to pinpoint when he died exactly. He has been trying to commit career suicide for years it seems. Just take a look at his more recent films. If you remove anything Shrek related, it is a pretty gruesome list;
Imagine That (2009) …. Evan
Meet Dave (2008) …. Dave Ming Cheng / The Captain
Norbit (2007) …. Norbit / Rasputia / Mr. Wong
Dreamgirls (2006) …. James ‘Thunder’ Early
The Haunted Mansion (2003) …. Jim Evers
Daddy Day Care (2003) …. Charlie Hinton
I Spy (2002) …. Kelly
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) …. Pluto Nash
Showtime (2002) …. Officer Trey Sellars
Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) …. Dr. John Dolittle
Out of consideration for you guys, I am going to stop there. Just know that I haven’t even gotten to such classics as Holy Man and Vampire in Brooklyn.
Why yes… I do suck in this movie.
Somewhere along the line things went horribly wrong. Come to think of it, the final nail in the coffin may have been driven in by one of Eddie’s more successful films. The commercial success of Shrek was so huge that Eddie is now perfectly content making a complete ass out of himself, so long as your friggin two year old gets a kick out of it.
Hey Eddie, guess what? Gimme a nice shiny set of keys and I can do the same thing!
Sigh.
I am getting away from the point of this post. This post is not about bashing Eddie Murphy, it’s about remembering him. Remembering him as he was, not as the corpse of a human being he has become. It’s sort of the same thing we do with Michael Jackson. He will always be little Michael to some of us.
So Eddie, I want to say thank you. Thank you or making me laugh all those years. Thank you for Axel Foley, and the Rocky jokes, and the Ice Cream Dance, and James Brown in a hot tub, and Prince Akeem, and MR. RANDY WATSON!!!
I will always love you, you fucking sellout!
SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!!!
Against the Grain 
Coming To America was brilliant.Bill Burr was great on Conan the other night, though. Thank fuck for that. David Duchovny, though…was givin’ me the willies.
i feel your pain.
I just watched Trading Places the other day. Classic.
and Ice Cube isn’t far behind. kids movies don’t help anyone’s street cred.Eddie’s making a fourth Beverly Hills Cop, you know. maybe he’ll redeem himself as FUNNY. let’s hope.
You had me scared there for a minute!Anyway, I like Norbit and Meet Dave.
You scared the crap out of me! I thought you meant he was literally dead. But yeah, he has been doing a lot of family oriented movies lately. But hey, if that’s what he’s “good” at, more power to him.
At first, I thought I had missed something huge. Then I actually read your post. Dr. Dolittle was the start of his true demise in my opinion.
It’s sad, truly it is.
Oh my gosh, I was so scared that I had to exit your post without reading it to go google it, I came back to comment you saying I couldn’t find anything….duh. then I actually read the post. haha :]
What is with black comedians and fat suits?
@TheBigShowAtUD – Seriously? Another run as Alex Foley? That BETTER be good.
Dude, Norbit was funny, but people didn’t like the fact that it made fun of Asians and fat people. I thought it was hilarious. But, yeah…he’s been dead since Boomerang for me. I remember showing my kid sister Eddie Murphy Raw and saying “This guy used to be so funny”. It’s a good thing for his role as Donkey. Otherwise he would have no pulse. I put his level of funny right up there with Ice Cube’s current street cred. I just can’t seem to understand what the fuck Eddie’s been thinking. Dude, you are not Will Smith. Leave the acting to actors and bring back comedy.
youre right, he has been off the wagon for some time now. its sad.
@theblackspiderman – yeah, true. i didn’t like the third one, though. i wish he’d do like Seinfeld and go back to stand-up, sometimes. that would be ridiculous.
Haha! You got a lot of folks with that title, Dave! Even I was like, “WTH?? When did Eddie die??” But it’s true, I think he lost his mind and his comedic mojo. Very sad. Gone are the days of “Wookin’ Puh Nub”. Maybe we should observe a moment of silence later today.
hahaha….sexual chocolate….ahhh, the memories…. where’d eddie go?!!! We’ll send cards and flowers after the jerry curl dew wears out.
I was actually happy to see him taking on a role that doesn’t involve a fat suit or talking animals. I’m planning on giving the new movie a chance.
You scared me. I thought he literally died. I agree, he’s not funny anymore. đŸ˜¦
What are you talking about? I liked both “Showtime” and “I Spy”. So, yeah, if you remove those it looks kinda sad but…
delirious was funny as hell.
When I see things like the fall of Eddie Murphy, I begin to seriously fear aging.
charlie murphy > eddie murphy
I loved coming to america and daddy day care
Yes he was once good. That was then, this is now. I think he discovered that he was so popular that he could put out crap and people would buy it. And he was right for a while, but that was then this is now. He is all but dead in the eyes of his old fans.
aww how did he die?
oh wait, you mean his career died? im confused haha
yh he is pretty lame now.
Randy Watson fucking rocks my socks!!
He may need to reinvent himself.
This is a classic post.. priceless.
WHAT
Eddie Murphy stopped being funny a long time ago.
RIP Eddie Murphy… đŸ˜¦
mhmm. redeem. redeem. redeem
I’ve never been too big of a fan of Eddie Murphy. I haven’t seen most of his old stuff and a lot of his new stuff is just too stupid.
Dude. Norbit was fucking hilarious.
Wow…sexual chocolate was hilarious!
How does he keep getting hired??I grieve with you.
Wow… you REALLY had me believing Eddie Murphy was dead too. Very nice.
Hookers…they lead to the demise of so many great actors.
@MomGoneMadd – Randy Watson is a god amongst mere mortals.@TiRocKiinPiinK – GO SEE HIS OLD STUFF NOW!!! Just click on some of the links I put in for a sampling.@stealingtheory – SUCK!@Axis_of_Doom – He’s dead to me damnit!
@Paul_Partisan – GASP! Charlie Murphy’s standup is garbage!@edlives – just let your soul glow Joel.@MyxlDove – That interview made my soul cry.@trunthepaige – It’s so depressing to see what he puts out now.
@vanedave – Lets not forget But Wheat singing Betty Davis eyes….. “a’membah me”???
He needs to get back to doing stand up and out of movies. I think I was sold on his comedic death after Daddy Daycare
I think he’s an underrated, under used genius. His characters in the Nutty Professor were brilliant. His performance in Dream Girls was amazing. I’ve heard that he is actually very shy in person and therefore wouldn’t be all that great on a talk show. Probably in Hollywood, if you’re an actor, you take what you can get as far as work goes.
@vanedave – I’ve always been told – I’m a bit of a soul man. đŸ™‚
God he was awesome on SNL.
The adventures of Pluto Nash had to be the worst. I remember sneaking into it with friends and then walking out 5 minutes in. It wasn’t even worth watching for FREE!
Axel Foley’s one of the greatest characters ever. Sure do miss that.
I agree. He’s just gone downhill ever since he sold his soul to Disney.
i love it when people don’t read the post and then ask about it.. ^^also, Eddie Murphey in Raw was brilliant… his chat on STDs… NO ONE could EVER pull that off now….
HOW Could anyone be WORSE that Jouaquin Phoenix? He flat lined!
@seedsower – Eddie was booooorrrrring!
what a post geez lol
The only Eddie Murphy films I’ve seen are Norbit, Dr. D and Shrek. Yeah, I really liked him. Any recommendation for his BEST one though? I wanna see it! đŸ™‚
I heard they were trying to ressurect him with another Beverley Hills Cop sequel. As much as I hate sequels, I pray for that one.Fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you! Who’s next?!
WORD.
SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!
This was a great post!!! I used to watch the old SNL and thought Eddie Murphy was all that and a bag of Doritos. His stand up was brilliant. I understand wanting to make a cutsie movie for you kids so you can show them what daddy does for a living . . . that’s cool. But to consistently suck and not care about it . . . He is a great disappointment. I like to think of him as being in a persistent vegetative state instead of being dead though . . . that leaves the small hope that someday he might wake up and make a good movie again.
I was like WTH with that title!?!? I just saw him doing a rather poor interview last night, and then I click over to read this. I though maybe Conan had finally had enough and whacked him or something like that. But your right. His career has been going down the tubes for close to a decade now. Its like a car wreck. It hurts to watch it, but you can’t take your eyes off it. URGH.
He used to be good & some of his stuff is still funny but he uses alot of the same themes. I lost alot of respect for him after what he did to Mel B. And it’s not because I’m a Spice Girl fan, it was a person to person thing. If he didnt want the relationship, fine that’s his prerogative, but he knew he had relations with her & the baby was his. Why lie about it? Angel is a gorgeous little baby & I think she’s better off without Eddie in her life anyway. Doesnt he already have like 9 kids from different women?Eddie is also a sore loser. When he didnt win the Oscar for Dreamgirls, he left the theater right after. Come on…He’s a good actor & visionary, but he’s crap as a guy. I may get flamed for this but this is my 2 cents.—>MiNA<3
aw, he was hilarious. đŸ˜¥
I thought he really passed away. >.<
meh, i’ve never been much of a fan of him. i thought norbit was just disgusting…
Don’t hold back Dave. Speak your mind.
I will always remember him fondly as Sherman Klump in “The Nutty Professor” {not the 2nd installment, though}, Prince Akeem in “Coming to America”, & Donkey in “Shrek”. May his career R.I.P.
ha! you got me. =) I’m so gullable! I was txting all my friends already and then i finished reading your post…hehe
whaat?! I think he’s still amazing! o__O
You’re right, his movies aren’t pretty much enjoyable recently.. Saaaad. Anyway, his part in Shrek was funny though!
I’m gonna say that the old South American joke about Argentinians (with all apologies to Argentinians everywhere…) also applies to the late Mr. Murphy:How does an Argentinian commit suicide? He jumps off his ego.And Speaking of Michael Jackson, I personally think he hasn’t been the same since the Pepsi Commerical…
you know hes gonna be playing in the Left 4 Dead movie?ha! im actually looking foward to seeing that.
Coming to America… is one of my favorite movies of all time!
“I met Dr. Martin Luther King in 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee. I walkin’ down the street minding my own business, just walking on. Feelin’ good. I walk around the corner, a man walk up, hit me in my chest, right. I fall on the ground, right. And I look up and it’s Dr. Martin Luther King. I said ‘Dr. King?’ and he said ‘Ooops, I thought you were some body else.”
You had me for all of two seconds, so I clicked. I too mourn the loss of brilliance.Your commentors make my brain hurt.
at first i was like “um… i think i would have heard about this…” and then I was like “aaah.”he is really in a beat place in his career.
Eddie Murphy really is a very funny guy. Really. In those movies of his that I’ve seen, there really is some funny, funny stuff; if only there was some way for it to come out and be a little more available. Despite his talent, he has little draw as an actor (at least as far as I’m concerned). Is he the executive producer of these alleged “movies”? If he is, then perhaps it’s time to stop. Stop producing, stop directing, stop everything. So often it seems that the purpose of his feature films is to “wow” us with his presence and screen persona. His stand-up is always impressive, the way he interacts with his audience, his timing, and so on. It’s a sad truth that excellence in stand-up comedy doesn’t necessarily translate to success on film.I really wish him the best, whether he would care about good wishes or not. I’d love to see him in something the caliber of “Trading Places” again, without resorting to sequels or remakes. There’s stuff out there that could really work, if the apparent ego was rolled back a little bit.
*LOL* I’ve mourned him years ago. Though, I have to admit, I do like Donkey.
@Kontzicles – lol. I know. That’s why I like to have fun with my titles every once in a while.@another_rebel_without_a_cause – yeah man. BHC 4 is set for release in 2010. I am scared.@jacksoncroons – I think I was holding out hope till that interview. It was THAT bad.@lizheartshakespeare – oh you saw that interview too. It was HORRIBLE!@Shinbi_Belldandy – No you won’t get flamed. You make some pretty valid points. @Jaynebug – lol. I always do.@tigerrmonkeyy – oh noes! Tell me you’re joking.
@another_rebel_without_a_cause – “Man you lying. You ain’t never met Dr. Martin Luther the King!”HAHA. I was saying that line in my head yesterday. CLASSIC!!!@Rosewulf – lol. Be nice.
Oh, Sexual Chocolate! I haven’t seen hat movie in forever! I think I might have to watch it in the near future. I do miss the Eddie of the 80’s. His 90’s stuff like Dr. Doolittle and Nutty Professor were alright the first time around, i guess, but they were just overdone. Too many sequels. Ugh. And while the Shrek trilogy was pretty good, I feel it’s now getting overdone as well (did you know a 4th Shrek movie, or 5th if you count the christmas one, is due out next year?) and now every time i hear him speak, in any movie or on any tv show, I just hear Donkey. It’s getting very annoying!
haha, I’m not a fan of his. & I doubt I’ll be. I heard that Norbit is really suck…well, it seems to be true because it’s on his down time list of yours. đŸ˜›
I was all confused at first. Thinking he was really dead. Dead as in the ground…LOL But yes. He’s dead in another sense which completely sucks! blah!
Dave… Yes, sad but true. This post is hilarious, but you sir, are the one who is RAW! LOL! you are just sooooo…..