Charlie Murphy

Career Murphy made his first film appearance in the 1970 comedy-drama film The Landlord. The film was shot in a neighborhood where Murphy lived and he appears in a brief scene as a boy stealing Beau Bridges's hubcaps. He also made an appearance in the video for the duo's first single, "This Beat Is Military." Murphy's first major role in a motion picture was in the 1993 film CB4, playing the antagonist Gusto.

Murphy gained national attention as a recurring performer on Chappelle's Show, particularly in the Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories sketches. In these, Murphy recounts his misadventures as part of his brother's entourage, including encounters with various celebrities such as Rick James and Prince. After Chappelle's Show host Dave Chappelle left the show, Murphy and Donnell Rawlings hosted the "lost episodes" compiled from sketches produced before his departure.

In 2005, he appeared in King's Ransom (alongside Anthony Anderson and Jay Mohr). In the film, Murphy portrayed Herb, a gay ex-con who is hired by King (Anderson) to fake his kidnapping. Murphy also did voiceovers for Budweiser radio commercials, provided the voice for Iraq War veteran/criminal Ed Wuncler III on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series The Boondocks, and the voice for a pimp named Jizzy-B in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and as an albino Black graffiti artist named White Mike in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. Murphy provided the voice for Spock on the G4TV's Star Trek 2.0 shorts, and the dog Lloyd in his younger brother Eddie's 2007 film, Norbit (which Murphy also co-created the story and co-wrote the screenplay for).

On March 20, 2009, he began his own sketch comedy series Charlie Murphy's Crash Comedy on Crackle. A stand-up special, Charlie Murphy: I Will Not Apologize premiered on Comedy Central in late February 2010. Murphy also made special appearances in 1000 Ways to Die and the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet? as Frank Kingston. In 2014–15, Murphy played Vic on the Adult Swim live-action show Black Jesus.

Personal life and death Murphy was a resident of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey. He was married to Tisha Taylor Murphy from 1997 until her death from cervical cancer in December 2009. The couple had two children together, and Murphy had a child from a previous relationship.

Murphy died from leukemia on April 12, 2017, at age 57 in New York City, New York.

The third-season premiere of Black Jesus and his brother's film, Dolemite Is My Name, were dedicated to Murphy. Murphy was the one who piqued his brother's interest in the biopic's subject, Rudy Ray Moore.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1989 Harlem Nights Jimmy The Muffin Man 1990 Mo' Better Blues Eggy 1996 Saxophone Man Norbit Lloyd the Dog Voice cameo; Also screen and story writer Unearthed Hank 2010 Our Family Wedding T.J. Lottery Ticket Semaj 2012 Moving Day Cedric 2016 Meet the BlacksKey Flo (Final film role) 2025 Being Eddie Himself Documentary, archive footage

Television Year Title Role Notes 1990 The Kid Who Loved Christmas TV movie 1995 Martin Big Bro 1 episode Murder was the Case: The Movie JC Direct-to-video 2003–2006 Chappelle's Show Various 14 episodes, also writer 2004 One on One Senator Larry Eldrige 2005 Denis Leary's Merry F#%$in' Christmas Himself TV special 2005–2010 Ed Wuncler III (voice) 10 episodes 2006 Thugaboo: Sneaker Madness Big Kid (voice) TV movie Thugaboo: A Miracle on D-Roc's Street Wild 'n Out Himself 2007 Beef IV Himself/narrator (voice) Video documentary We Got to Do Better Host Unknown episodes Pauly Shore's Natural Born Komics Himself Direct-to-video 2009 Nite Tales: The Series Samson Episode: "Pill Time" 2010 Freaknik: The Musical Al Sharpton, Perminator (voice) TV movie Charlie Murphy: I Will Not Apologize Himself Video documentary Lopez Tonight 2010–2012 Are We There Yet? Frank Kingston 5 episodes 2010 1000 Ways to Die Himself Episode: "Today's Menu: Deep Fried Death" 2011 The Cookout 2 Coach Ashmokeem TV film 2012–2014 Black Dynamite A Cat Named Rollo (voice) 2 episodes 2013 Hawaii Five-0 Don McKinney 2014–2015 Black Jesus Vic Episode: "Journey to the Center of Mikey's Mind" 2017 Power Marshal Clyde Williams 5 episodes The Comedy Get Down Himself Posthumous release; 5 episodes

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Jizzy B. 2006 Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure White Mike 2021Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Jizzy B. Archival recordingsRemaster of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas only.

Music videos Year Title Role 1994 Murder Was the Case JC