Charlie Murphy

Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy (born July 12, 1959) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is the older brother of Eddie Murphy. He is most notable as being a writer and cast member of the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show.

Early life and education

Murphy was born on July 12, 1959 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. His mother, Lillian, was a telephone operator, and his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer and an amateur actor and comedian. As an adolescent, he spent 10 months in jail.

In 1978, on the day Murphy was released from jail, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served for six years as a Boiler Technician. In 1983, shortly before being discharged from the Navy, Murphy witnessed a mushroom cloud over Beirut. He later learned that it was the aftermath of the Beirut barracks bombing in which 307 people were killed.

Career

Although he had minor roles in several films in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Murphy's first major role in a motion picture was in the 1993 film CB4, where he portrayed the antagonist, Gusto. 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 kidnap him in a fake kidnapping.

Eddie Murphy

Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American comedian, actor, writer, singer, and producer. Box-office takes from Murphy's films make him the 5th-highest grossing actor in the United States. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He was ranked #10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

He has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs., the Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls.

Eddie Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in DreamWorks' Shrek series and the Chinese dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and elsewhere. Murphy has played multiple roles in Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he played the title role in two incarnations, plus his character's father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Norbit, and Meet Dave.

Chappelle's Show

Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedians Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in the majority of its sketches. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22, 2003, on the American cable television network Comedy Central. The show ran for two complete seasons and a third, truncated season (dubbed "The Lost Episodes").

After numerous delays, production of the third season of the show was abruptly ended when Chappelle left the show. Three episodes were compiled from the completed work and these episodes aired from July 9 to July 23, 2006. Re-runs have frequently aired on Comedy Central and around the world, with episodes airing on MTV in Germany, Comedy Central in Brazil, The Comedy Network & MuchMusic in Canada, The Comedy Channel and 7mate in Australia, and FX in the United Kingdom.

Chappelle's Show was also shown on WGN America and was syndicated to various television stations across the U.S. including MyNetworkTV. TV Guide ranked it #31 on their list of "TV's Top 100 Shows".

Rick James

Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr.; February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an American musician and composer.

Influenced by singers such as Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson, James started singing in doo-wop and R&B groups as a teenager in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. After entering the U.S. Navy to avoid being drafted, he deserted to Toronto, where he formed the rock and R&B band, The Mynah Birds, whose lineup once included Bruce Palmer, Neil Young, and Nick St. Nicholas. James' tenure with the group was interrupted after he was discovered recording with the group in Motown in 1966. Surrendering to military authorities, he served a one-year prison term. Upon release, James moved to California to resume his duties with the Mynah Birds, although the group eventually split. James began a series of rock bands in California and worked with Motown under the assumed name "Ricky Matthews" as a songwriter.

In 1977, he signed with the Gordy Records imprint of Motown as a recording artist, releasing his debut, Come Get It!, in April 1978. The album sold over two million copies and launched his career into the mainstream as a funk and soul artist. His most popular album, 1981's Street Songs, launched him into superstardom thanks to the hit singles, "Give It to Me Baby" and "Super Freak", the latter song becoming his signature song for the rest of his life, and the basis of MC Hammer's biggest hit, "U Can't Touch This"; James eventually sued for back royalties. After being credited as writer of the song, James became the 1990 recipient of a Best R&B Song Grammy for composing the song. Due to this success, James was often called the "king of punk funk", for his mix of funk, soul and underground-inspired rock music. In addition to his own success, James emerged as a successful songwriter and producer for other artists, such as Teena Marie, The Mary Jane Girls, The Temptations, Eddie Murphy and Smokey Robinson.

Tower Heist

Tower Heist is a 2011 American heist comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson, based on a story by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper and Griffin. It was released on November 2, 2011 in the United Kingdom, with a United States release following two days later. Tower Heist follows Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller), Charlie Gibbs (Casey Affleck) and Enrique Dev'reaux (Michael Peña), employees of an exclusive apartment building who lose their pensions in the Ponzi scheme of Wall Street businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). The group enlist the aid of criminal Slide (Eddie Murphy), bankrupt businessman Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick) and another employee of the apartment building, Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), to break into Shaw's apartment and steal back their money while avoiding the FBI agent in charge of his case, Claire Denham (Téa Leoni).

Tower Heist began development as early as 2005, based on an idea by Murphy that would star himself and an all-black cast of comedians as a heist group who rob Trump International Hotel and Tower. As the script developed and changed into an Ocean's Eleven–style caper, Murphy left the project. Ratner continued to develop the idea into what would eventually become Tower Heist, with Murphy later rejoining the production. Filming took place entirely in New York City on a budget of $75 million (after tax rebates), with several buildings provided by Donald Trump used to represent the eponymous tower. The film score was composed by Christophe Beck and released commercially on November 1, 2011.