I watched Eddie Murphy's movie "Norbit" the other day. It's predictable and not too funny and started me thinking. My thought was that Eddie Murphy is the Jerry Lewis of another generation. Murphy frequently plays multiple roles in his movies, the movies aren't always all that funny and he's even reprised Jerry Lewis' roles -the Nutty Professor, I and II.So off I went to research my hypotheses. The answer: right shape/wrong size.
Eddie Murphy is, um, really something special. Here's some of the facts:33 feature film credits, plus projects booked two years into the future
- the first film was "48 Hours" in 1982
- he is the highest grossing filmstar IN HISTORY, grossing over $3,400,000,000. That would be $3.4 BILLION
- he is an award winning voice actor: Donkey in the "Shrek" films, Thurgood Stubbs in "PJ's" and the Dragon in "Mulan"
- he started with "Saturday Night Live" at age 19 in 1980
- he turned down a role in "Ghostbusters"
- he had a successful singing career (I don't remember it, either)
- he was nominated for an Oscar for "Dreamgirls"
- he has 4 sons, and 4 daughters by 4 women (Jerry's kids, no pun intended, all have the same mother)
- he's 47 years old
- he was influenced by Richard Pryor, Peter Sellers, Redd Foxx, Bill Cosby, Elvis and....JERRY LEWIS!
So, there's a link between the two,, but Eddie Murphy is a unique success.
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This week, the racers take to the Pocono triangle. The investment selection for this weekend is Kyle Busch for the checkers, Jeff Burton for a top 5. Watch the anthem and the flyover, then nap thru the middle and watch the exciting (maybe) finish. This week has to be more entertaining than last Sunday's yawner.
