We study the effects of purity on entanglement dynamics of a multipartite system in cavity QED. Three two-level atoms A, B and C are initially prepared in an entangled state and locally coupled with independent cavities a, b and c, respectively. We consider the effects of purity of atomic initial state on the entanglement evolution of both the systems of atoms and cavities. It is found that depending on the purity of atomic initial state, the entanglement of atoms (cavities) may or may not exhibit the sudden death (birth) phenomenon.