Eddie Murphy’s Brothers: All About Charlie Murphy and Vernon Lynch

Eddie Murphy is a world-famous comedian and actor, as well as a family man who has two brothers: Charlie Murphy, who died in 2017, and boxing trainer Vernon Lynch.

Eddie and his brothers were raised by their mother and her husband, Vernon Lynch Sr., who was Charlie and Eddie’s stepfather.

Charlie once told PR.com that if there were any challenges with Eddie’s brother, it was that he had to try to keep working hard. As he said, “The biggest challenge for me was just not giving up. Continue to believe that one day you will be recognized for what you do.”

This did not mean that the brothers were not close. In the 2016 interview Diversity, Eddie said Charlie was the first person he made an impression on. He added: “I’ve been doing it since I was two or three years old. He was my first impression. I’d like it to become famous because people can see this great impression I’m making.”

Here’s what you need to know about Eddie Murphy’s brothers, Charlie Murphy and Vernon Lynch Jr.

Charlie, Eddie and Vernon were born in Brooklyn

Eddie Murphy with his parents Vernon Sr. and Lillian and brother Vernon Jr.

DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Like his younger brother Eddie, Charlie was also born in Brooklyn, New York. The two were raised by their mother and stepfather after their father’s death. Their younger brother Vernon was also born in Brooklyn and was named after his father, Vernon Lynch Sr., who died in 2001.

Charlie Murphy was in the Army for six years

Eddie Murphy and Charlie Murphy at the premiere of ‘Norbit’ on February 8, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.

Picture Perfect/Shutterstock

Before starting his own comedy career, Charlie served six years in the military as a young adult, enlisting after spending years in prison as a teenager.

He told PR.com that he made the decision to join after getting into trouble and explained: “When I was a teenager, my thing was… I was a street person. I hung out with street people and when you hang out with that kind of crowd, you’re going to end up in trouble.” After his release, Charlie enlisted in the Navy the same day.

Charlie said of joining the Navy: “It was the best move I could have made because everyone else I know I grew up with, two survived and everyone else is dead. And of the two guys that survived, one got out of jail about two weeks ago.”

Eddie worked with both of his brothers

His time in the Navy also inspired Charlie to try his hand at comedy writing. He told PR.com, “Once you start realizing that you can do these things and you believe that you can do something, you start trying and you start working. When I went to Hollywood to work for my brother, I took it upon myself to say, ‘You know what, I want to try writing.’ ”

Charlie added that he wrote his first film in 1986 and sold it to Paramount for $150,000, with the agreement that his brother Eddie would star. But the film did not reach production.

“The film was about [crime boss] Nicky Barnes, and the only reason the movie didn’t get made is because back then you had guys who weren’t visionaries,” he theorized to PR.com. “They were happy to have my brother do the same thing over and over because they didn’t know what they were doing.”

Charlie and Eddie also collaborated on the 2007 film Norbit. While Charlie said he did the “physical part” of writing the film, the two were able to see the film through to completion. As he said, “I’m the one whose arm hurt when the movie was done writing.”

Lynch entered the entertainment industry in a different way, after briefly enjoying a career as a musician in the late 1980s as part of the group K-9 Posse. After the group broke up, he followed in the footsteps of his brothers and began a career as a writer. Lynch co-wrote Wes Craven’s 1995 film Vampire in Brooklynwhich starred Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett.

Charlie joined Chappelle’s show in 2003

Charlie Murphy in ‘CB4’.

Universal

Charlie gained national attention when he joined Chappelle’s show 2003 as a permanent performer. Being on the series brought his work to a wider audience, but he later admitted that getting paid was a problem for him and the other performers on the show.

As he explained to PR.com, “I never even had a contract. It was week in and week out the whole time. … People were saying to me, ‘You’re only getting paid the SAG minimum?’ They are pimping you.’ ”

Charlie wasn’t the only performer to struggle financially – he also revealed that he knows at least five people who have left the show over money.

However, Charlie praised his time on the show as a lot of fun. He added: “It was a lot of fun to be on that show and to be around the people who were involved with it. Energy has always been good energy.”

Eddie and Vernon mourned their brother after he died of leukemia in 2017.

Charlie Murphy and Vernon Lynch attend Eddie Murphy’s wedding at the Plaza Hotel.

Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive/Getty

After suffering from leukemia for several years, Charlie died in 2017. The news was reported by TMZ and confirmed by Charlie’s manager.

Diversity reported that the Murphy family released a statement on Charlie’s death that read: “Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our son, brother, father, uncle and friend Charlie today. Charlie filled our family with love and laughter and not a day goes by that his presence is not missed. Thank you for the outpouring of condolences and prayers. We respectfully ask for privacy at this time of great loss for all of us.”

Vernon is his son’s boxing coach

These days, Lynch works as his son’s boxing manager, which is all the more poignant because his father was a boxer. His son, Brandyn Lynch, won the belt in 2021 and currently has a record of 12-1-1.

Brandyn, who goes by the nickname “Bad News,” began training in martial arts when he was four years old. Lynch told Cheyanne Mumphrey about his son’s journey to martial arts success: “U [Brandyn’s] during the break he decided to go to the boxing gym and found boxing. He has been in love with boxing ever since. But he didn’t understand why he actually wanted to do it as a profession… so after I told him about my background, he started to realize that fighting was in his blood.”

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Source: HIS Education