“I’ve always been aware that I have a charmed life. I’m from the Tilden Projects of Brooklyn. This is all gravy,” he said at a press event in 2016.
Eddie Murphy’s new sequel film “Coming 2 America” spans two worlds: the luxurious royal kingdom of Zamunda (which looks a lot like a modern-day rapper’s house) and the common life that character Prince Akeem once sought in Queens, New York.
As for Murphy, his life began in public housing in another New York City borough — Brooklyn. But after rising to fame on “Saturday Night Live,” the comedian embarked on a solo stand-up and acting career — which came with a life of luxury.
Today, the mansion where the 59-year-old lives with his family is a custom-built $20 million Beverly Hills estate — not to mention his rumored $15 million island in the Bahamas.
Murphy’s $35 million in real estate
The “Coming to America” and “Coming 2 America” star, who plays four roles in each film, lives in a $20 million North Beverly Park home that was built in 2003.
He purchased the 3.7-acre lot in 2001 for $10 million and built the 10-bedroom, 17-bathroom mansion, which has become his primary residence, with an extensive library.
In addition to the 18,600-square-foot house, the estate has a tennis court with a trellis, a huge swimming pool, a hot tub, a four-car garage, a sunken mason barbecue pit, a courtyard and an underground vault, according to the original listing and Los Angeles property records.
From this house, he welcomed his youngest three children, Angel Iris (now 13), Izzy Oona (now 4) and Max Charles (now 2).
Murphy, whose net worth is unknown, is said to have spent $15 million in 2007 on a Bahamas island called Rooster Cay, Page Six previously reported, which some publications say is more commonly known as a resort called Long Cay. The island is 15 acres and sits near Nassau, according to Forbes. The New York Post was not able to independently verify Murphy’s ownership of the island.
1961-1970
The 16-story apartment buildings he calls the “Tilden Projects” are part of Brownsville’s public housing units in a conglomeration of 27 X-shaped brick apartment buildings.Google Maps
Murphy was born on April 3, 1961, to telephone operator Lillian Laney and transit police officer Charles Edward Murphy.
The budding comedian spent his early years in public housing in Brownsville, Brooklyn, he said at a 2016 press event.
“I’ve always been aware that I have a charmed life. I’m from the Tilden Projects of Brooklyn. This is all gravy,” he said.
The 16-story apartment buildings he calls the “Tilden Projects” are part of Brownsville’s public housing units in a conglomeration of 27 X-shaped brick apartment buildings.
Murphy’s parents split up around 1964 or 1965, and his father was murdered in 1969, the comedian told local paper Newsday in 1981.
Soon after his father’s death, his mother became so ill that Murphy was shuffled around to different baby-sitters, including one Mrs. Jenkins, a harsh woman who always served grits and gravy, he told Newsday.
Foster care websites and other nonprofits claim that Murphy spent that year in foster care, but Murphy is not known to have made such a statement publicly. His residence location during that year of his life is unknown.
A home within two blocks of the Roosevelt Youth Center, near where Murphy’s house likely was.Realtor.com
In 1970, Murphy’s mother married Vernon Lynch, a “wiry, no-nonsense” foreman at a Breyers ice cream plant who was also a boxing instructor, according to a 1982 feature by New York Magazine.
Murphy moved into his mother’s new “modern, two-story ranch house” in Roosevelt, Long Island, with his stepfather, Lynch’s son Vernon Jr. and at times his late brother Charles, he told Newsday.His exact address in Roosevelt is unknown, but we know it was within two blocks of the former Roosevelt Youth Center at 104 E. Clinton Ave.
The living room had a lime green carpet and a coffee table covered with pictures of the Murphy and Lynch boys, according to the New York Magazine feature. The dining room was white brick, and the basement was wood-paneled with a record player and a boxing area.
Outside, the shingled roof overlooked Eddie’s new cars, a “Z” and a Trans-Am, which were covered in canvas to avoid attracting attention, according to the feature, which called the house “immaculate.”
The nicest apartment complex in Hempstead
Late ’70s-early ’80s