In 2007, Murphy won an Oscar nomination and the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in the film, Dreamgirls. Murphy became a global sensation, starring in numerous films in the 1990s and 2000s and performing stand-up comedy. Some of his early films include Coming to America (1988) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994). Murphy’s career took off when he was only nineteen with a role on Saturday Night Live.

“ Around 15, I started saying, ‘When I’m 18, I’m gonna get famous,” (Spencer, 2021). Audiences loved his celebrity impersonations and social commentary. He began performing stand-up at bars and clubs in Long Island at the age of fifteen. It was pretty normal kid stuff” (Spencer, 2021).Īs a student at Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School Murphy was more interested in making people laugh than studying. “I had a great upbringing… Most of my childhood memories are fond. Murphy remembers his childhood as a happy one. The family moved to Long Island when Murphy was ten years old. The couple later had a son named Vernon Jr. Murphy believes these experiences helped him develop a good sense of humour.Ī few years later, Lillian married Vernon Lynch Sr., who Murphy affectionately called his “Pops”. Shortly after the death of their father, Murphy and his older brother were placed in a foster home for about a year while their single mother recovered from tuberculosis. His father was murdered when he was eight. Murphy’s parents divorced when he was three years old. Lillian was a telephone operator and Charles was a transit police officer. He and his older brother Charlie lived with their parents, Lillian and Charles in Bushwick, a multi-cultural neighbourhood in Brooklyn. 1961) spent a year in foster care as a child.Įdward Regan Murphy was born in New York City. African American actor and comedian Eddie Murphy (b.

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