One of my favorite black actors. I used to get him confused with a black dude on sesame Street when I was a child. I was not aware of his passing till now 😔 I will have to sit down and watch The Principal as a kind of personal tribute. "I'll get the chains and chain the doors"!
@@JMcLeodKC711 That's Vernon Lynch, Eddie's step-father. Eddie's bio dad, Charles Murphy Sr., passed away when he was 8. Vernon raised him since then. He's the father that Eddie is referring to in his stand-up bits about being drunk at the cookouts.
Matthew Allen I’m not sure why it wasn’t him, but that’s not him. Vernon was a lighter black man than that darker gentleman in the crowd. Again, I’m not sure why Vernon wasn’t actually there! But that was an actor. Look up pictures of Vernon - Vernon was my dad’s boxing trainer as a kid on Long Island 👍
LOL there was another sketch where he did that too...it was some sort of "deep south" sketch and when he opened the door it was black folks playing banjos and he did the same "SHUT UP!" and I've looked for that sketch for YEARS. Haven't seen it since the original back in 83 whenever his debut was...just hilarious in Eddies style!
In retrospect, this is one of the most brilliant SNL sketches ever showcasing Eddie Murphy's dramatic acting talent years before the world knew he was more than just a great comic
Eddie Murphy's acting abilities is like the 48th reason why this is a brilliant sketch. The fact that everyone in the comments section is saying this is a brilliant/great/genius sketch but UNwilling to say *why* (the *true* reasons why) is more proof we've internalized the commands of our oppressors.
Completely different compared to the current SNL norms.. here they only glanced at the cue cards (seemingly), they seemed way more familiar with their lines back then and also way more invested in the actual acting part. More depth to their roles, even if they were just sketches.
The guy that stood up as Eddie's father was an actor portraying his real father Vernon Lynch Sr. The actor's name is Robert Judd who played the devil in the movie "Devil at the Crossroads." This was pointed out by a commenter by the name of Ted Mims. Eddie and his brother Charlie's biological father was murdered by his girlfriend when he was 8 years old. After that and a year in foster care due to his mother being sick, they came back to her when she recovered. She married a man who became what he considered his father, Vernon Lynch Sr. Vernon was a lightweight boxer from Roosevelt, Long Island and was a strong contender to be a world champion even having fought the Canadian champion to a draw. He later coached and trained boxers there as well as working as a foreman at Breyers Ice Cream factory. He was a wonderful father and Eddie and Charlie loved him deeply. He couldn't be there for a skit for whatever reason but the point of the skit still rings true. Eddie's whole demeanor changed when his father died due to lung cancer in 2001. He became withdrawn and mostly quiet and stayed at home with his family. You could see that in many of the interviews he did since then. He had cried on his deathbed and told him that he loved him and wished he could be half as good a father as he was to his kids.
I knew it! I know I’m replying to an old comment but this is the first time I’ve seen this video/sketch. Crossroads is one of my favourite childhood movies, and when that guy stood up, I went “holy schnitt, that’s Legba!” I don’t really follow actors or anything, but it gave me a buzz to see that face again. Thanks for the rundown
Eddie can be really funny with or without a script. That moment when he told his father to sit down got me laughing legit unlike those moments when you just have to laugh for the sake that it's supposed to be funny. Eddie Murphy the greatest cast member of SNL!
I have seen something like this before,-ABC’s Fridays had similar sketches that broke the fourth wall. One skit had Michael Richards playing a young punk interacting with his “father”.
Wo Wow Wow! The genuineness of this sketch is surreal, you won't see that in SNL today! Also the unorthodox structure of that sketch is very original and interesting.
Amazing too how it was played straight for the first bit. You have two men who are not just comedians but talented actors utterly committing to a crap scene that is remarkably like August Wilson's "Fences." It makes the payoff all the more hilarious.
You're right. Late 70's and early 80's television was way more progressive than current television. Cureent stuff is deliberately shocking or crass, but not groundbreaking. I recently started to watch episodes of All in the Family...that show was wild. If you've seen it before, it's definitely worth a revisit.
@@bigbawlzlebowski8886 You're all wrong to an extent. I would argue the same amount of people have been pro-human for thousands of years. It's always a small number of psychopaths who make insane laws that everyone capitulates to by default. Most just go along to get along to avoid confrontation with State sponsored terrorists in the form of military/police or rogue militias who are never prosecuted. The fear of getting a bullet to the face or beaten to death keeps insane systems in power. it's only when people understand that there are more people who disagree do things change. The fear goes away. Propaganda is also a tool that keeps people supporting, obviously stupid ideas. What rational person supports separate bathrooms and water fountains? Can any of you imagine having to fight such insane and childish laws? It's literally a waste of time, and frankly a distraction from focusing on the real enemies like banks, corruption and large multinationals destroying societies.
while he was funny in 48 Hrs, that was really an action cop movie, and Eddie did VERY well in the dramatic aspect. his acting teacher worked with DeNiro and Keitel in Mean Streets, and it was David Proval, so Eddie COULD do some intense acting.
His father was murdered in 1969. He later stated: My mother and father broke up when I was three and he died when I was eight, so I have very dim memories ... He was a victim of the Murphy charm (laughs). A woman stabbed my father. I never got all the logistics. It was supposed to be one of those crimes of passion: "If I can't have you, no one else will" kind of deal. When Murphy's single mother became ill, eight-year-old Murphy and his elder brother Charlie (1959-2017) lived in foster care for one year. In interviews, Murphy has said his time in foster care was influential in developing his sense of humor. Later, he and his brother were raised in Roosevelt, New York, by his mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, a foreman at an ice cream plant
@Maxx Kroes , Damn! I was subjected to your lame comment, when I could have been entertained by the sketch, a second time. Please enjoy your Will Farrel and Chris Fartly clips.
I remembered that skit. I loved it. It was a new era. Eddie Murphy really opened the doors for black comics. The 80's was really a open the door revolutionary time for everyone.
I don't know how I missed this skit. I watched SNL many weekends in the early to mid 80s when I was in my early teen years. One classic that I had not seen in years was Eddie's skit with Ron Howard as a dysfunctional speech therapist. Eddie broke character in that one but not intentionally. It was hilarious. Howard's daughter was the female lead on the recent Jurassic World films.
A lot of young people do not realize how controversial Saturday night live used to be. I grew up late 60s. On the rare occasions that I would be up my mom and dad would not allow me to watch Saturday night live. They thought it was too adult for children. My parents were not alone thinking that way. Almost every kid I knew were not allowed to watch this show. On Saturday nights at I was getting older my parents and my aunt and uncle would go out and leave all the kids at one house with my older cousin. On those particular nights we would watch Saturday night live. Our parents had came home early and caught all of us watching Saturday night live and every single one of us even my older cousin were all punished. Eventually it did not bother our parents as much. When Eddie Murphy joined the cast he appealed to every body that matters their age or race. I was in a record store yes that's what they were called back then but they sold tapes also. I saw Eddie Murphy's first recorded album on tape and purchase this. I ran up to my room but my headphones on and started listening to it. It was so filthy and dirty that if my parents had any idea what was on that tape they would have burned my stereo in the tape all together. Most of my friends' parents had found out how bad it was and would not allow their kids to buy one. When I was in school where you were part of the auditorium club and we would set up for assemblies and movies. We had a tape deck in the back office where we would all sit during assemblies and play cards and listen some music until I brought my Eddie Murphy tape in. After hearing it all my friends hit the mall without their parents and all picked up a copy of the tape. It's just funny how things were back then and how they are today. People today would probably not think twice and play Eddie Murphy's first album.
Talent is making something so uncomfortably true as this, both funny and entertaining. You can not write and perform things like this from a place of hatred. That is why everyone loves and respects Eddie Murphy.
People don't know how brilliant Eddie Murphy still is! Every star spends a portion of their career, chasing money. Some die before they make it all the way back and once again, some grace us with their talent.
Sheeit - just googled Lou Gossett Jnr's age and the man is 84 years old. This actor could easily have been a recruiting poster for the Marines back in the 80s - even then, he would have been well into his forties. Kudos to both these men for holding their respective age so well.
Roosevelt long island! My home town. We used to see Eddie walking to Roosevelt park. Passed my house a few times and stopped to throw a football with us. I didn't know who he was then. He came to the park in a brand new car and signed autographs and shit. He also used to practice his material at our after school hall next to Washington road elementary school. They would shut it down when he was there. I tell people this, and they look at me like I'm crazy! Haha!
THIS is REAL SNL. I am an extremely educated Black-Native woman and to be brave enough to addresss these stereotypes during that time...just, wow. And using comedy??? Awesome talent. RIP Louis Gossett Jr.
Actually that man is Eddie stepfather and his real father was a police officer and Harlem who was murdered by his girlfriend when Eddie was about 7 years old his mother remarried and that's the man that's in the audience that said he loved him too
I respect your comment. I tell people who may think stereotypes are the truth, what you see on tv is mind control. For the most Native Americans (so-called blacks) we grew up with dad and mom in the home with structure, morals and family values but hollywood would have whites and others believe different.
It is just way too staged , full of way too much bombastic race baiting and the whole premise rest on the black stereotypes yet Eddie Murphy did actually end up having a stereotypical childhood and I felt like yes it is meant to be a joke but that part where they tried to make us think that Eddies childhood was exceptional only to come to find out it wasn't really was going way too far for me!! It let me down to be quite honest and I don't think you should feel much worse after seeing a comedy skit!!!
It was a clever concept, but I didn't find it that funny. When he opened the door and told the bongo and conga players to shut up was hilarious. But other than that...
This is the best skit , comprising of Louis Gossett, Jr. & Eddie Murphy 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Classic piece. Blessings to Louis Gossett, Jr. Thanks for the best movies and TV shows. Take your rest, Louis Gossett, Jr. #R.I.P. AMERICAN ICON
The “writer” was Co-producer Bob Tischler. What really would’ve worked was to have Eddie walk off the set into tie control room to confront Dick Ebersol, but he very rarely appeared on camera.
I can still remember back in 1981 one of my new coworkers repeatedly telling me to watch this new guy on SNL name Eddie Murphy. When l finally did l was hooked.
