Comics ranging from Arsenio Hall and Tracy Morgan to Adam Sandler and Russell Brand came to tell stories about Eddie Murphy for a TV tribute to the Brooklyn-born comedian that taped over the weekend in LA.
Morgan, who appeared wearing a replica of Murphy’s red leather suit from his stand-up show “Delirious,” called Murphy “my comic hero.”
“He set the tone for the whole industry a long time ago,” Morgan said before taking the stage. “He inspired me in a fearless way.”
Sandler was still in high school when he first saw “Delirious,” which he described as “one of the most legendary stand-up specials of all time.”
“Everybody on the planet wanted to be Eddie,” he said.
Samuel L. Jackson said Murphy “changed the course of American film history” by giving Jackson his first speaking film role in 1988’s “Coming to America.”
“If it weren’t for Eddie, we might not have all the wonderful films that I’ve made,” Jackson quipped.
“I am a very, very bitter man,” the famously prickly Murphy said with a smile. “I don’t get touched easily, and I am really touched.”
The tribute is set to air on the cable channel Spike later this month.