Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer.
Murphy was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984. He has worked as a stand-up comedian and was ranked No. 10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
In films, Murphy has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs., the Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, The Nutty Professor, and Dolemite Is My Name. 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.
Rick Newman, the founder of New York City’s hugely influential Catch a Rising Star comedy club that provided a training ground for the stand-up comics who would change the landscape of entertainment in the 1970s, died Feb.
20 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81. His wife Krysi Newman told The Washington Post that he died of pancreatic cancer. Among the comics who began or developed their careers on the Rising Star’s Upper East Side stage are Jerry Seineld, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Richard Lewis, Andy Kaufman, Freddie Prinze, Robert Klein, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler.
Larry David, Elayne Boosler, Rodney Dangerfield, Jay Leno, Joy Behar and Ray Romano. One of the performers most associated with Catch a Rising Star was Richard Belzer, the longtime host of the club who died Feb.
19, just a day before Newman. Newman, tweeted Billy Crystal, “gave me and so many our starts as stand ups.” Crystal wrote that Newman’s death was “devastating” coming so soon after Belzer’s. “2 pillars of my career gone.” “You made Catch A Rising Star such a great hang while a generation of comedians were learning their craft,” Richard Lewis tweeted. “You were beloved.” Newman opened the club in 1972, signaling the venue’s mission in its name: Catch a Rising Star would welcome the comedy newcomers that might have a tougher time getting booked at the more established Improv club across town.
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