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The reality of how famous Eddie Murphy was in 1984


Before 1984 the reality was the black men were not stars of big hollywood movies, did not get videos on MTV, and did not have national tv endorsement deals. Well in 1984 you had Michael Jackson become the biggest Pop star in the World ever, you had Price being the biggest rock star in the world, and you had Eddie Murphy the biggest box office draw in the world. Eddie was right there, funny, money and everyone in Hollywood wanting a piece of his talent. The guy was alread a TV Star from SNL and the last American Actor to be offered and sign and exclusive deal with a single Studio. His output was only shunted by the fact that because of this deal he was not allowed to make films for other studios, directors, and actors that were competing with his studio, Paramount. He was also making big selling comedy albums that at the time were thought to be left for dead from the high point in the 70's of Richard Pryor, Geroge Carlin, Cheech and Chong and a host of others. Then he went on to make a music album that not only sold but had a top ten hit on the radio. I understand that to most kids he is the voice of Donkey, but in 1984 he was on top of the World. If you thought Dave Chappelle was funny and was making a ton of money from his show on Comedy Central 10 years ago, that'd be about 1000 % less famous then Eddie was in 1984.

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Harrison Ford was also damn famous as well. From 1977-1994 he was on top with hit after hit with three franchises under his belt.

Star Wars Trilogy
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Blade Runner
Witness
Mosquito Coast
Working Girl
Frantic
Presumed Innocent
Regarding Henry
Patriot Games
Fugitive
Clear and Present Danger

Ford had pretty much one hit movie a year from 1977 until 1994.

It isn't until 1995 that his string of hits started to fizzle, but he bounced back with Air Force One in 1997. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me.

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Interesting

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Oh yes, Harrison Ford the black gentleman from the millennium falcon. I remember him. yep.

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Imagine just 8 years ago race wasn't the main topic here... 😏

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Eh, i get your point but i was just making a joke based on the first line of the op's post, ie that the harrison ford post was way off topic.


But i agree, it would be nice if everything wasnt about race these days!

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LOL! Yeah, I was wondering how this post started out being about how black men weren't a success in American until 1984 (which is not true in the slightest), but then segued into being about Harrison ford. The initial post was actually, in a way, ahead of its time. Eight years ago (when it was posted)the guy would have been called out for not knowing anything about film, music or comedy history, but in 2021 since there is little to no historical accuracy to it, it'd be considered genius by the ill informed. It's sad, as there were SO MANY mega talented and successful black, musicians, actors and comedians prior to 1984. I'm guessing that the OP never heard any blues albums(blues was invented by Blacks), jazz albums (jazz was invented by blacks), is unaware of Motown records (Soul music was invented by blacks), Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx (I'm coming to join you Elizabeth) Sammy Davis Jr (Successful actor and singer) or Sidney Poitier... Unless, the op was just trolling - which is a possibility.

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great points!

yes it is incredible how uninformed so many folks are today about the previous decades. i feel sorry for them in a way, that they aren't even aware enough to bother sampling older works -OR- understand/appreciate stuff from the 60s 70s 80s.

of course i was there, in the 70s and 80s, so i recall it all vividly and enjoyed it AT THE TIME, but sometimes i go on a youtube rabbit trail pulling up old vids and just let them play and play, one right after another for hours. like, maybe it's a friday night, i am at home alone with a bottle of malbec and some chinese food, i watch a movie (or half of one lol) then i stumble onto some R&B vid like brothers johnson or earth wind and fire or commodores or some divine ebony goddess like minnie ripperton or donna summer, then next thing i know it's 2 am and my malbec bottle is empty and i'm dozing in t he recliner with youtube still on autoplay. fun times!!!


"this glimpse into the life of a middle aged single guy has been brought to you by nacho cheese flavored doritos and pepsico" .....lol

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Youtube is a like a black hole that sucks you in, and it's almost impossible to escape it's grasp sometimes.

I'm actually partial to Tower of Power. Those guys are badassed! Did you know that they are the horn section for Huey Lewis and the news? I just found that out recently.

You brought up Donna Summer... Now, the lyrics to MacArthur Park are pretty terrible, but the song itself is awesome.

Well, you might be a middle aged single guy, but at least you're smart enough to not leave the cake out in the rain...

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Yes, Eddie was a phenomenon back then.

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He sure was.

He put out a comedy album called Greatest Hits at one point, although I forget when. It had stuff that was not on Comedian, Delirious, Raw, or that other album he released which I can't remember. Greatest Hits was absolutely hilarious, so I would recommend checking it out.

The unfortunate thing about Eddie, in my opinion, was that he never came close to hitting the heights of Beverly Hills Cop again, at least in terms of movies. Don't get me wrong, he had some movies that were hits, and which I found mildly funny, but he just did not come close again to Beverly Hills Cop or Trading Places. I know everyone peaks, but it would have been nice to see him do something close to his best work, and I did not see that. Some might disagree and say that his later work was comparable, I just don't see it. For me the later work does not even come close.

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Nutty professor was HILARIOUS! best movie he made in the 90s.

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Stallone and Arnie?

it really only took one movie in 1984 to launch arnold. but yep eddie was on top at least without a doubt in the comedy world. he is still great as far I am concerned.

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I've always thought that Eddie is better than his material, even in his best movies. He has great comedy chops, versatility, & above all, an Everyman relatable charm that endears him to both white & black audiences. I always believed that he could take on The Big Oscar Role, if he chose. And I am so glad he got the nod for DreamGirls.

Robin Williams, among others, proves my actress mom's theory that, "If you can be a sucessful comedic actor, then you will be good at drama. Comedy is hard." He, and Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Murray, Will Smith, Steve Martin, Steve Carell et al are further proofs of that. Hell, Charlie Chaplin could make you weep!

My real point is that Eddie is extremely talented, but I've felt that he has been criminally underutilized by the industry. Might be his own fault, but I still feel like it's a personal loss- always loved the guy since SNL days.

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Richard Pryor?

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Bingo. I was thinking the same thing.

And, uh, Tinkse? When the HELL did Will Smith do stand-up?! Dude was a rapper. For that matter, when was Whoopi a SUCCESSFUL stand-up artist?

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Redd Foxxx

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And sicko Bill Cosby,too//..

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“in 1984 you had Eddie Murray become the biggest pop star in the world, ever.”

Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley say hello.

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Murphy guest hosted SNL in December, 1984 and in his opening monologue he mentioned that he had previously went from SNL to "Trading Places" and "48 Hours" and was a star...then earlier in 1984 he starred in the flop "Best Defense" and his stock dropped precipitously, but with the (then) recent release of "Beverly Hills Cop" he was a star again. There was some truth to that. For most of 1984, Murphy was kind of thought of as the guy who ditched the known commodity of SNL for a movie career and then bombed in his first leading role (no Nick Nolte or Dan Ackroyd). If he hadn't landed this role, his career could have been very different.

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Sidney Poitier was a huge movie star decades before anybody ever heard of Murphy. Harry Belafonte and Sammy Davis also had pretty big movie careers before Murphy, and Bill Cosby was a standup comedy and tv superstar in the '60s.

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