BREAKING NEWS:Charlie Murphy Dies: ‘Chappelle’s Show’ Actor & Eddie’s Brother Was 57

by Greg Evans

April 12, 2017 10:59am

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Rex Features/AP

Charlie Murphy, a comedian and writer who turned his Hollywood adventures with brother Eddie Murphy into some of the most popular bits of Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show, died of leukemia Wednesday in New York. He was 57.

“We lost one of the funniest most real brothers of all time,” tweeted Chris Rock today.

Though he had small roles in such films as Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, CB4 and Norbit, the stand-up comic and screenwriter (Norbit, Vampire in Brooklyn) mined his experiences as part of brother Eddie’s entourage for the recurring Chappelle’s bit called “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories.” In one, Chappelle introduced his wildly popular Rick James impression, face-slapping Murphy for no apparent reason (both Murphy and James said the incident was true). In another, Murphy recounted a basketball game with Prince.

Just yesterday, Charlie Murphy himself tweeted, “One to Sleep On: Release the past to rest as deeply as possible.”

Murphy’s wife, Tisha Taylor Murphy, died from cancer in 2009. He’s survived by three children and his brother.