Comic performer and film director, born in New York City, USA. A popular prankster and mimic at school, he hosted a talent show at the Roosevelt Youth Center in 1976 and subsequently decided to pursue a career in show-business. He first came to national prominence on the television show Saturday Night Live (19804). A charismatic, self-confident humorist, his debut in the film 48 Hrs (1982) was followed by an unbroken string of box-office hits including Trading Places (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984, and its sequel, 1987), and Coming to America (1988). Later films include Big Baby (1991), The Nutty Professor (1996), Dr Dolittle (1998), Bowfinger (1999), and Daddy Day Care (2003). His best-selling albums include Eddie Murphy Comedian (1982) and How Could it Be? (1984). He made his directorial debut with Harlem Nights (1989).
| Eddie Murphy | |
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Eddie Murphy |
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| Birth name | Edward Regan Murphy |
| Born |
April 3, 1961 Brooklyn, New York |
Eddie Murphy (born Edward Regan Murphy on April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American comedian and actor.
Murphy began his comedy career at the age of 16, as part of a comedy duo with fellow comedian Mitchell Kyser at the Roosevelt Youth Center in Roosevelt, Long Island, where he grew up. Murphy left the show midway through the 1983-1984 season, appearing in filmed sketches for the remainder of that season.
Murphy later starred in many comedies including the Beverly Hills Cop series. Murphy also has starred in a large number of sequels including: Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Shrek 2 (2004), and the upcoming Shrek the Third (2007). Eddie Murphy's older brother, Charlie Murphy, is also an actor, best known recently for his appearances on Chappelle's Show.
Early life
Murphy's biological father died when he was quite young, and he, his brother Charlie, and half-brother Vernon Lynch, Jr. Murphy was considered a bright child, but he spent a great deal of time on impressions and comedy stand-up routines rather than academics. According to his former manager, Ujima, who first met Murphy when he and Kyser auditioned for a talent show he gave in July of 1977, "Eddie would tell anyone who would listen that he would be a household name by the time he was 19, and that's exactly what happened." After leaving Ujima's management and hooking up with King Broder, who paired him with two white comedians as "The Identical Triplets" and mostly got him exposure on cable TV, Murphy decided to seek his own gigs and eventually, made it to a Manhattan showcase, The Comic Strip Live.
Murphy was voted "Most popular" while attending Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School in Roosevelt, New York, due to the stand-up comedy routines he would perform in the school's auditorium, and jokes he would tell classmates during lunch. Murphy then attended Nassau Community College in Long Island, New York, before beginning his acting career. hgktkghk
Stand-up comedy routines
Murphy did stand-up comedy at the same Bay Area Comedy Club as Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg (who at the time was working under her real name, Caryn Johnson). His early comedy was racy, akin to Richard Pryor, whom Murphy credits as his inspiration to enter comedy. Characterized by frequent swearing and making fun of gays, singers, and others, Murphy became, in a sense, the Pryor of the 1980s, though Pryor wrote in his autobiography that he always thought Murphy's comedy was a little too mean. At the height of his popularity, Eddie Murphy appeared in the concert films Delirious (1983) and Raw (1987).
Saturday Night Live
In Autumn 1980, the then unknown 19-year-old Murphy badgered talent coordinator Neil Levy to give him a shot on the show. The audition performance went so well that Levy then began advocating to new executive producer Jean Doumanian (who succeeded Lorne Michaels after the 1979-1980 season) to let Murphy on the show. Doumanian's mind was changed after seeing Murphy's audition for herself, and then Doumanian too began pleading with the network to allow Murphy on the show. NBC only agreed after it was determined that Townsend had not yet signed a contract, at which point Murphy was cast as a featured player.
Murphy made his debut in the second episode of the 1980-1981 season, hosted by Malcolm McDowell, as an extra in a skit called In Search of the Negro Republican.
Despite Murphy's participation, the 1980-1981 season was considered such a disaster that NBC fired Jean Doumanian and everybody in the cast, with the exception of Murphy and Joe Piscopo.
Post SNL career
In 1982, Murphy made his big screen debut in the cop-buddy thriller 48 Hrs. alongside Nick Nolte. The movie was perhaps most notable for two scenes: 1) a scene involving Murphy (on a bet with Nolte) terrorizing a redneck bar, and 2) a scene in which Murphy, in a jail cell, sings "Roxanne" by The Police loudly and out of key while listening to the song on headphones.
Nick Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11, 1982 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, but he became too ill to host, so Murphy took over as host. Murphy opened the show with the phrase, "Live from New York, It's the Eddie Murphy Show!" The decision to have Eddie Murphy host was reported to have upset the rest of the cast.
The following year, Murphy co-starred with fellow SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places. The movie marked the first of Murphy's collaborations with director John Landis (who also directed Murphy in Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop III) and proved to be an even greater box office success than 48 Hrs.
In 1984, Murphy starred in the mega-hit Beverly Hills Cop. This film was arguably Eddie Murphy's first full-fledged starring vehicle, as it was originally intended to star Sylvester Stallone. Beverly Hills Cop grossed over $200 million at the box office (thus, solidifying Murphy's status as a box office player) and when adjusted for inflation, remained in the top 40 highest-grossing movies of all time as of 2005.
Also in 1984, Murphy appeared in Best Defense co-starring Dudley Moore. Murphy, who was credited as a "Strategic Guest Star", was added to the film after an original version was completed but tested poorly with audiences. When he hosted SNL, Murphy joined the chorus of those bashing Best Defense, calling it "the worst movie in the history of everything." At the same time he pointed out that "If they paid you to do "Best Defense" what they paid me to do "Best Defense", y'all would have done "Best Defense" too."
Eddie Murphy has also been rumored to be initially a part of hits such as Ghostbusters (featuring his Trading Places co-star Dan Aykroyd and fellow SNL alumnus Bill Murray). By this point (according to the autobiography of the film's director and co-star, Leonard Nimoy) Murphy's near-exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures rivaled Star Trek as Paramount's most lucrative franchise.
Also in 1986, Murphy starred in the supernatural comedy, The Golden Child. After Gibson turned the role down, the project was offered to Murphy as it was subsequently rewritten as a partial comedy. Although The Golden Child still managed to be a hit (with memorable bits such as Murphy's "I want the knife!" routine), the movie wasn't as critically acclaimed as 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop. The Golden Child was considered a change of pace for Murphy because of the supernatural setting as opposed to the more "street smart" settings of Murphy's previous efforts.
A year later, Murphy reprised his role of Axel Foley in the Tony Scott-directed Beverly Hills Cop II. Murphy declined the TV offer, but was willing to do a film sequel instead.
Eddie Murphy was one of the last movie actors to sign an exclusive contract with a studio.
Singing career
Murphy was also a singer, and frequently provided background vocals (which were often uncredited) to songs released by the Bus Boys.
Murphy also recorded an album in the early 1990s, entitled "Love's Alright" in which he performed in a video of the single "Whatzupwitu", alongside Michael Jackson.
Although uncredited, Murphy also provided vocal work on SNL castmate Joe Piscopo's hit comedy single, "The Honeymooners Rap."
Murphy's singing skills were put to good use in the Shrek films.
Personal life and woes
In 1985, King Broder, who actually did nothing to further Murphy's career, claimed Murphy had signed an "indefinite contract" with him when Murphy was 19 and sued him for $30 million for breach of contract when Murphy was worth an estimated $50 million dollars. Broder even claimed Murphy got his 'Buckwheat' character from an idea he had for 'The Identical Triplets.' In court papers filed in State Supreme Court in Mineola, New York, Murphy said he and Broder had verbally agreed to dissolve the relationship before the end of 1980. As Murphy was in the process of filming Beverly Hills Cop II at the time of the suit, Paramount Pictures ended up settling the case out of court and paying Broder an undisclosed amount so that they would not lose any more money in production costs.
In addition, according to Eddie's childhood friend Harris Haith in his book, Growing Up Laughing With Eddie, "long before Murphy did any writing for Coming To America, Art Buchwald had approached Paramount Pictures with the idea for a similar film. In 1988, Buchwald sued Murphy and Paramount Pictures, but Murphy was not found liable because Paramount had received the material and plagiarized it before giving it to Eddie.
In May, 1997, Murphy was stopped by policemen for picking a transvestite prostitute. Murphy was never charged in the incident, but the transvestite, 20-year-old Atisone Seiuli (known as Shalomar) told a reporter that Murphy had placed $200 on her leg and asked her what kind of sex she liked.
Murphy began a longtime romantic relationship with Nicole Mitchell after meeting her in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show.
Murphy is currently rumoured to be engaged to marry singer Melanie Brown ("Scary Spice" of the 90's Pop group Spice Girls), who is also pregnant with his child
Career slump
From 1989 until the mid-90's, box office results for Murphy's films dropped, particularly with Beverly Hills Cop III, Vampire in Brooklyn, and The Distinguished Gentleman, although he did find success with Boomerang and Another 48 Hrs. Largely seen as a vanity project, Harlem Nights featured Murphy (who had previously been known only as a performer) as director, producer, star, and co-writer, as well as supporting roles for Murphy's comic idols Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor. When the film tanked with both box office returns and critcs' reviews, Murphy's professional downward slide began;
During this period Murphy was also criticized by filmmaker Spike Lee for not using his show business stature to help black actors break into film, despite him giving several future stars roles in his films, for example Damon Wayans in Beverly Hills Cop, Martin Lawrence in Boomerang, Samuel L.
David Spade poked fun at Murphy's career slump on his Hollywood Minute segment on Saturday Night Live. With an image of Murphy on screen, Spade said "Look children, a falling star...make a wish!"
Although Murphy is the biggest movie star ever to come out of Saturday Night Live, he's never attended any cast reunions, anniversary specials, or even participated in the making of the Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live retrospective book by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller (2002). Others believe it has to do with Murphy having no allegiance to Lorne Michaels, since Murphy was brought on the show by executive producer Jean Doumanian after Michaels had left, and was one of the few cast members retained by Dick Ebersol when she was replaced.
Comeback and image makeover
Murphy's box office results began to recover in 1996, starting with The Nutty Professor.
Eddie Murphy is expected to begin work on Beverly Hills Cop IV sometime in the near future, and it is expected that producer Jerry Bruckheimer will participate in the fourth installment of the series. Eddie Murphy recently told the Sun Online that “the new script is looking good.” In addition, he will appear with Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson in the motion picture version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which received some pre-release Academy Awards buzz.
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