In his new Netflix documentary Being Eddie, comedy legend Eddie Murphy opens up concerning the heavy realities behind fame, legacy, and loss. For the primary time, Murphy speaks candidly about having to personally step in to cowl funeral prices for a number of beloved Black entertainers who handed away with out the popularity or monetary stability they deserved.
Murphy revealed that he helped bury soul-funk icon Rick James and comedy pioneer Redd Foxx, and even bought a gravestone for actor Billie Thomas, greatest identified for taking part in “Buckwheat” in The Little Rascals. Every gesture, he stated, got here from heartbreak and disbelief that figures who formed generations might go away this world forgotten and financially deserted.
“I needed to bury Redd, I needed to bury Rick,” Murphy shared. “I purchased Buckwheat a tombstone. Buckwheat didn’t haven’t any tombstone. It tripped me out… it’s not even cash to bury these folks? The place’s their households? It’s lots of people like that.”
Murphy’s reflections strike a deeper chord inside Black Hollywood and the leisure group at massive. A reminder that even the brightest lights can fade into silence as soon as the highlight strikes on. His phrases echo not simply unhappiness, however a way of duty, honoring those that paved the best way however have been denied the dignity they earned.
By means of Being Eddie, Murphy sheds mild on the customarily unseen aspect of fame: the price of success, the loneliness behind laughter, and the painful reality that too a lot of our legends are celebrated in life however forgotten in loss of life.
