Yul Brynner Had Seductive Offer For Young Eddie Murphy

There aren’t a lot of new revelations in Being Eddie, the new Eddie Murphy documentary that dropped this week on Netflix. The famously guarded comic still keeps most of his secrets under wraps, and his stories about making his famous comedies have all been worn out on late-night talk shows. But Murphy did reveal at least one not-safe-for-Fallon tale that most of his fans have never heard, and it involved the star of The King and I. 

Murphy, who became a star on Saturday Night Live at only 19 years old, was insanely famous before he could legally buy his first beer. “Nobody had as much fun as we did in the 80s,” Murphy says in Being Eddie. “Nobody.”

He had his 21st birthday party at New York’s Studio 54, where Murphy was approached by Yul Brynner, the boldly bald star of The Magnificent Seven and The King and I. Brynner’s strong Russian accent made him a favorite of comedians — Billy Crystal did an extended bit about the actor being hilariously out of place in The Ten Commandments. 

Though Brynner’s most significant movies had come decades earlier, he was still a big name when he showed up at Murphy’s party. “He was with his wife, and he was like, ‘How would you like to come back to my apartment with my wife and party?’”

“Nah, I’m cool,” Murphy replied. 

It wasn’t until the comedian was a few years older that he realized what Brynner was insinuating. “His wife was smiling,” Murphy said, piecing it all together. “Did he want me to go fuck his wife? I was like, ‘What the …’”

“Now I wish I would have went,” Murphy said. He imagined getting busy with Brynner’s wife while the actor encouraged them with his trademark “Et cetera et cetera et cetera …”

Murphy wondered what would have happened if his naive younger self had said yes. “The story would end better,” he laughed.