THe late great comedian Charlie Murphy is no longer with us. He was perhaps best known as a writer and cast member of the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle’s Show as well as the co-star of the sitcom Black Jesus. Not only was he the older brother of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy, he was also a great storyteller.
In one of his most popular true stories was about the legendary Mr. Superfreak himself, Rick James.
While Chappelle portrayed James in the skit, they also featured the real James, who corroborated Charlie’s tales of their long, crazy nights. “He was hanging out with the big dogs, Charlie was doing crazy things and I had to straighten him out, sometimes I had to go upside his head,” said real-life James. That was all well and good, but in his inimitable sweet-but-not-to-be-trifled-with fashion, Charlie explained how Rick himself sometimes stepped over the line.
“My man got too familiar and I ended up having to whip his ass,” Charlie said with a smile. “Because he would step across the line… habitually. He was a habitual line-stepper.” Dressed in an Adidas track suit and afro wig, Murphy took viewers back to Studio 54 in the 1980s and the time James punched him in the face while wearing a gold “Unity” ring.
Chappelle played James in the reenactment, repeating the catchphrase, “I’m Rick James, bitch!” (James himself also appeared in the segment, adding his own commentary.) The story centers on what happened after James—then an acquaintance of Murphy’s—punched him in the face at Studio 54.
But there was another incident, as well. Murphy explained that while the Studio 54 run-in “blew over. . . then, you know, here we go again.” James’s explanation for the rematch? “Cocaine’s a hell of a drug!”
This time, James showed up at Eddie Murphy’s house wearing dirty cowboy boots—and proceeded to flop onto his pristine couch, rubbing the grime from his boots all over the upholstery. What happens next . . . well, either you know, or you should watch for yourself.
Another one of Murphy’s famous stories was about The Purple One, Prince, who Murphy said invited him and his friends away from an L.A. nightclub to his place to listen to some music. After a while, though, Prince got bored and proposed a pick-up basketball game. Murphy agreed, laughing and thinking it would be the easiest victory of his life—but Prince and his crew trounced him, despite the fact they were still wearing their club attire.
Prince did not appear in the video, but the singer did confirm the story, saying, “It ain’t that I’m that great; he’s just that bad.”
Charlie’s famous brother, Eddie Murphy also chimed in and said the story was true and described what everyone was wearing at the time to host Jimmy Fallon. He said that Prince proposed the idea of playing basketball while he was wearing a leather jacket and a gold chain around his waist.
“A waistlet, I think,” Eddie Murphy added with a laugh.
On the 2018 season of the highly-rated Starz hit show, POWER, you saw Charlie’s familiar face in an unfamiliar role: playing a prison guard named Marshal Williams.
Murphy kept his battle with leukemia so private, most people who worked with him on “Power” had no idea he was sick. Production sources on the show, which stars 50 Cent, told TMZ that they had no idea Charlie was dealing with cancer. Charlie never told anybody on set and put in the work like everybody else.
Murphy’s character takes a special interest in “Ghost,” who is played by Omari Hardwick. This proves problematic for Hardwick’s character as he attempts to navigate prison without revealing his ties to the underworld.
“Promoting is not that easy for me,” said Hardwick. “But with Charlie having passed, I feel honored to promote the show this season if that makes sense. It’s more of an honor because he was such a part of this season. We’re all better because we got to work with his crazy ass.”
A rep for the Starz network issued a statement, “Starz sends our deepest condolences to Charlie’s family and friends. He joined ‘Power’ for our upcoming season, and his talent shines in every scene. We were fortunate to have worked with him.”
Despite his acting skills, Charlie Murphy is a great storyteller. No, like FOR REAL. It’s not just how he tells the story with such detail like it was just yesterday. He also paints a picture that is so vivid, you can’t help but to laugh. But the best part of Charlie Murphy’s stories is that most of his stories are true. It’s like, “how can any of these stories be true?” but time and time again its confirmed that it’s true.
Just one day before he died at the age of 57, Murphy was in the middle of a stand-up comedy tour with Cedric the Entertainer, Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley and George Lopez. But what he posted makes some people think the end was near. The comedian shared an insightful message on Twitter:
“One to Sleep On: Release the past to rest as deeply as possible,” the tweet said.
Now that Charlie’s gone, let’s still remember him with a few of his funniest moments:
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