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Janitor sues Eddie Murphy
04/04/2002 08:17 - (SA)
Susanne Ault
Hollywood - A Chicago janitor is suing Eddie Murphy and other producers tied to now-defunct animated series The PJs, alleging they stole his likeness from an amateur video for a character on the show.
In a suit filed on March 22 in US District Court in Illinois, the plaintiff, Tally Collier, is seeking more than $75 000 in actual damages and more than $10 million in punitive damages from Murphy and other PJs producers, including Imagine Entertainment principals Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Tony Krantz.
Other defendants in the suit include Will Vinton Studios, which developed The PJs animation format, and Fox, the first network to air the series.
Collier insists Murphy and others based the show on an amateur documentary he starred in about life in Chicago's housing projects. He believes the defendants got wind of the film after it was submitted in early 1998 to The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Apparently, the documentary's creator, Daryl Murphy (no relation to Eddie) was hoping to turn his work into a future segment on the talk show. While "Oprah" staff never contacted Murphy, Collier nevertheless claims he sees similarities between the video that Murphy made and what ultimately became The PJs.
Running on Fox starting in January 1999, later jumping to the WB for the 2000-01 season, The PJs was a comic look at a family living in a housing project. Eddie Murphy was one of the executive producers as well as the voice for the central character, building superintendent Thurgoode Orenthal Stubbs.
In addition to Daryl Murphy's video taking place in the projects (of Chicago), the suit cites other similarities, including the allegation that PJs character Sanchez is a carbon copy of Collier. Both men use a electronic voice box to talk and a cane to get around. Collier also believes PJs characters Mrs Avery, Mrs Mambo Garcelle (Haiti Lady), Smokey and Juicy were likewise lifted from Daryl Murphy's video.
It's unclear from the suit exactly how the video allegedly moved from "Oprah" to Murphy, Howard or Grazer. None is directly tied to the show.
However, Collier claims Daryl Murphy requested that Winfrey pass the tape along for consideration to other high-profile showbiz figures, including Howard, Spike Lee, Tom Hanks, Quincy Jones and Fred Williamson.
- Reuters
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