Eric "E" Murphy is Vincent Chase's manager and best friend and who does his best to keep Vince on track personally and professionally.
Eric acts as Vince's manager, sometimes causing friction between these lifelong friends. Eric reads Vince's scripts for him, and knows his friend's next move depends on how well Eric can get a grasp of the Hollywood shuffle.
Eric's advice to Vince also periodically angered Ari Gold, who feared that Eric's advice may have steered Vince towards the wrong projects. The tensions between Ari and E boiled over after Vince got bumped from the Ramones biopic, eventually leading Eric to fire Vince Chase's first (and only) agent. He is from Queens and was born in 1977.
Fictional character biography[]
Eric, Vincent Chase's best friend since they were both five, works as Vincent's manager. Vincent credits Eric for pushing him to become an actor when they were in the third grade.
At Vincent's request, Eric moved to Los Angeles from Queens, where he was working as a night manager at a Sbarro pizzeria. (When asked what he used to do before coming to Los Angeles, Eric often euphemistically replies that he "managed an Italian restaurant.")
Feeling the increasing pressures outside of just acting, Vincent wanted his best friend to help him with business and logistical decisions. Vince often says that Eric knows him better than anyone else; Rita Chase becomes known as Eric's "other mother".
Eric is Catholic and of Irish descent and is reputed to have been a tough guy in his youth.
In season one, Eric serves informally as Vince's manager. In the first season finale, Eric insists on formalizing the relationship; Vince gives E a ten percent commission, plus health benefits. While this new financial bias could potentially skew Eric's actions, his devotion to his best friend transcends the money. This often puts him at odds with Vincent's more avaricious agent, Ari Gold but despite this, the two of them are more than willing to co-exist for Vince's sake.
Although not a Hollywood insider, Eric strives to become a seasoned manager. Eric hates being referred to as a "Suit" especially by Billy Walsh Ari and Eric are capable of seeing eye to eye on issues like Vince doing "Aquaman" and keeping his behavior from ruining the film. Their difficult relationship eventually becomes a friendship, as Ari advises Eric on navigating his way through the business.
Since then, Eric has been busy in expanding his job function, getting an office and even starting "The Murphy Group". He has also finally been recognized as Vincent Chase's manager, thanks to an expose on him in the Daily Variety[1]. He briefly signed Anna Faris as a client [2] before being fired for a conflict of interests regarding Billy and Vince's third movie[3](though this is only implied, we never actually see him fired, and later on in the series he tells Ari that he "has 3 clients").
In the Season 4 season finale, Eric ends up correct about Medellin. With Yair backing out after seeing how poorly it was received by the viewers at the screening, the film is ultimately sold to Harvey Weinstein for a back-door price of one dollar. Noticing the gang's disappointment walking out of the theater, Ari does his best to lighten the mood by saying Harvey is the man they want to pull them out of the hole, adding: "You should've seen Shakespeare in Love before he put his scissorhands on it."
In Season 5, Eric manages Charlie Williams, an up and coming stand-up comedian turned actor, who is played by Shad Moss.
During season 5, Eric helps land Charlie a spot on a new TV series called Venice about skateboarders living around Venice Beach, California.
During the first episode of Season 6, Eric moves out of Vince's house and moves into a house that he is watching over for a year for one of Sloan's friends. Later on in the season Eric closes his talent agency and eventually takes a job offer at Hollywood's most powerful management group with well-known talent manager Murray Berenson at Murray Berenson Co who is the godfather of Sloan McQuewick, E's girlfriend.
Unfortunately, Eric's eagerness to sign Bob Saget brings him into conflict with Scott Lavin with the two occasionally butting heads although they later form their own management group, "Murphy and Lavin".
Unlike the rest of the entourage, Eric tends to pursue lasting relationships with women, although he is not above the occasional one night stand. He briefly dated Ari's assistant, Emily. He spent much of season one and part of season two working through a relationship with his girlfriend, Kristen, that ended after she admitted that she cheated while he was in New York filming Queens Boulevard. In season two and three, Eric dated Sloan, the daughter of Ari's former partner at the agency. At the beginning of season four, Eric said that he and Sloan are "on a break", however it is revealed later in the season that they have indeed broken up and that Sloan has moved on. At the end of Season 6, Eric realizes Sloan is the only one he wants to be with and he proposes to her. Sloan realizes he is ready to commit to a relationship and they become engaged. Eventually they break up again after some scheming at Eric's workplace, but after Sloan became pregnant they apparently reconciled and flew away in a private jet together.
Personality[]
E is fiercely protective of Vince given that the two have been friends since they were very young.
Despite his laidback attitude, E is by no means a pushover as he has demonstrated that he possess an explosive temper which is shown in Sniff Sniff Gang Bang where he angrily confronts Lavin over the fact that Lavin has gotten Vince addicted to cocaine.
Relationships[]
Kristen
Emily
Leanna (Perfect 10 Model)
Sloan
Ashley
Melinda Clarke (Sloan's Step-Mom)
Scott Lavin[]
E's relationship with Scott Lavin has been one full of tension given E's desire to work alongside other people while Lavin prefers to work alone.
They had a thorny relationship in the beginning as Lavin resented E's arrival to the company due to the fact that E was with Sloan McQuewick, Murray Berenson's goddaughter and also because E had lived next door to Bob Saget for a while who Lavin was trying to sign as well.
Their relationship took a huge nosedive when in Sniff Sniff Gang Bang, after an enraged E learnt from Billy Walsh that Scott was the one who had gotten Vince addicted to cocaine. E angrily confronted Lavin and despite Lavin insisting that it wasn't his fault, E tells Lavin to stay away from Vince.
For the next few episodes, E refused to talk or even have any contact with Lavin whatsoever and on one such occasion when Lavin attempted to talk to him, E, still furious with Lavin told Lavin to go f*** himself with Lavin sarcastically wondering if E should email that to him.
In the Season 7 finale episode, Lose Yourself, Lavin later told E that he was going to take down Murray, having gained the support of the company.
Despite E's misgivings, he eventually relented and joined Lavin with the two later forming their own company, "Murphy Lavin Group", the fate of which is currently unknown.
Inspiration[]
The Eric Murphy character was based on Mark’s friend Eric Weinstein who is also an executive producer. Eric is one of major factors of Vince's success in Entourage .
Clients[]
List of Eric's clients/employees signed to his management co. "The Murphy Group." (officially opened in season 4, episode 8 and officially closed in season 6, episode 4).
Personal Assistants[]
- Jane- (Season 5 to Season 6 Episode 4) (Assistant for Murphy Group).
- Brittany- (Season 6 Episode 7 to Season 7) (Assistant at Murray Berenson's Management Company) played by Kate Mara.
- Jennie- (Season 7 to present) (Assistant at Murray Berenson's Management Company and later at the Murphy Lavin Group)- played by Janet Montgomery.
Current Clients[]
Former Clients[]
- Anna Faris
- Johnny Galecki
- Charlie Williams