Eddie Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up there and in Roosevelt, New York.
Murphy was raised a Baptist.[1] He doesn't talk about it much, if at all. But apparently it was still a force in his life as of 1993, when his first marriage took place at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.[2]
Murphy's mother, who is either in denial and blinded by a mother's love or has the inside scoop, says that Eddie is a deeply religious person, saying:
Eddie is a firm believer in God and prayer. That's probably why he's so hot today.[3]
She went on to say that Murphy prays every night and insists that his often vulgar and sexually explicit comedy routines are merely an act and that Eddie is really a nice boy at heart.
Murphy did once star in a film, called Holy Man, in which his character's religiosity and charisma allow him to become a star on a home shopping television network.[4] Perhaps this was Murphy's comment on religion–it is merely a show to advance consumerism and commercialization. Some critics came to that conclusion as well.[5]
Race politics
Murphy's work has often had an element of race politics, from playing a satirical "Buckwheat" on Saturday Night Live[6] to a homeless black man sticking it to white corporate magnates in his film Trading Places to playing a black politician/con-man in The Distinguished Gentleman.[7] Plus, in real life, he's a supporter of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.[8]
But he never really came out to endorse a candidate until–you guessed it–Obama came along. In a successful career spanning over 30 years, Murphy never contributed money to any candidate's campaign until 2008, when he gave Obama over $30,000.[9] I wonder why.
But other than expressing excitement that Obama won the 2008 election,[10] he wasn't vocal about it–or anything else for that matter.
Loading comments...