I apologize if this has been asked/answered alreaqdy but who is Eddie Murphy supposed to be in DREAMGIRLS? None of my guesses work with the time frame. And, yes, I know it is fiction but still...
A little James Brown, a little Little Richard, and a whole lot of...
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
The character is an amalgam of James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Wilson Pickett, David Ruffin, and a little bit of Marvin Gaye, but, he truly is a fictional character and there was no one r&b performer from that era whom Jimmy Early completely resembles (certainly there was no male r&b star of any stature who toured with the Supremes for any length of time or who had an affair with any of the group members or, at least in the film version of the character, had a major drug problem).
I thought James Brown and Little Richard but Wilson Pickett never occurred to me. Thanks!
Wilson Pickett looks like Eddie as Jimmy, or the other way around.
If Jimmy doesn't have a drug problem in the original stage version, what is the cause of his death?
He doesn't die in the stage version.
Little Richard:
Wilson Pickett:
Jackie Wilson:
James Brown:
Marvin Gaye:
Diana Ross:
(Oops! Wrong character inspiration -- sorry)
I always think of Jimmy Early as James Brown-esque. He's not as flamboyant as Little Richard. I really think the character was fleshed out well for the film. His relationship with Lorrell was wonderfully expanded I don't remember a drug problem in the show and that was a very interesting addition, slightly inevitable since every movie about the music industry today invovles someone with a drug problem. Murphy also plays him to perfection, but enough of my gushing.
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