Murphy’s Honor Is Life Achievement

The Los Angeles Chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People gave an achievement award to Eddie Murphy Friday night, scoring a major achievement for itself.

By honoring the 30-year-old comedian with its Lifetime Achievement Award, the L.A. NAACP was able to make its ninth annual Roy Wilkins Awards Dinner the most successful in the chapter’s history. The black-tie dinner for 1,000 at the Century Plaza grossed more than $350,000.

The dinner may be unique in that most of the guests are local supporters and volunteers, but almost all of the money raised comes from Hollywood sources. This night, the person tapping those sources was new Paramount Pictures CEO Brandon Tartikoff, who enlisted the help of Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and Jeff Berg, CEO of the ICM talent agency.

“At first, Frank Mancuso was chairing the dinner,� said Tartikoff, speaking of the former Paramount CEO. “A lot of the responsibility of that title is to fill the room. Frank felt that with his leaving Paramount, the clout of a studio is really what was needed here.�

What that clout backed was Murphy, by far the youngest lifetime achievement honoree in the chapter’s history. “Having his name adds a sparkle that attracts attention,� said branch President Joseph Duff. “I could go talk about Chief (Daryl F.) Gates until I was blue in the face and not get this kind of crowd.�

It was a crowd ready to cheer Murphy. By far the biggest applause of the night came after a showing of clips from his films, including “Trading Places� and “Coming to America,� plus his early work on “Saturday Night Live.� Murphy accepted his award from longtime friend Arsenio Hall while holding his 20-month-old daughter Bria, whom he called “my biggest achievement.� Bria went on to steal the show by grabbing the microphone out of its holder.

Besides Murphy, the chapter honored Rep. Julian Dixon (D.-L.A.) as Humanitarian of the Year; newsman Larry McCormick accepted the Community Service Award for John Mack; Ernestine Peters was named Volunteer of the Year; Judge Veronica McBeth was presented the Judge Thomas L. Griffith Award, and attorney Johnnie Cochran received the Presidents Award.

On hand to applaud the honorees were Nick Nolte, M. C. Hammer, John Travolta, Janet Jackson, Joyce DeWitt, Dionne Warwick, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Robert Townsend.

Although much was made of the fact that Murphy was receiving the lifetime achievement award so early in his career, his co-star in “Harlem Nights,� Della Reese, thought it was just fine. “Maybe he should get three or four in his lifetime,� said Reese. “At 55 he should get another.�