Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy emerged as the foremost African American stand-up of his generation, echoing the stature once held by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor, and many observers regard him as the leading comic across the entire 1980s. No entertainer of any background matched his level of stardom or sheer boldness during that pinnacle period. Blending Pryor’s razor-sharp observational insight and affinity for profanity with Cosby’s broad commercial magnetism, he moved rapidly from nightclub stages into television and motion pictures, even earning acclaim as a pop vocalist, and thereby became the most widely embraced comedian since Steve Martin’s dominant years.

Born Edward Regan Murphy on April 3, 1961, in Hempstead, New York, he turned professional as a teenager, delivering stand-up sets in Long Island venues. By age 17 he was appearing at Manhattan’s Comic Strip and soon launched an East Coast club circuit. His early promise secured a recurring spot as a featured performer on Saturday Night Live in 1980; amid one of the show’s recurring slumps, Murphy quickly rose to prominence, advancing to full cast member through signature bits that included the Claymation figure Gumby, the Our Gang character Buckwheat, the street pimp Velvet Jones, and Mr. Robinson, a ghetto variation on Mr. Rogers.

In 1982 he released his first comedy album, the self-titled live recording Eddie Murphy, which drew criticism for its depiction of the Asian community, its misogynistic elements, and the track “Faggots,” the earliest of several homophobic routines that later prompted a boycott by gay advocacy groups. That same year he made his feature-film bow opposite Nick Nolte in the buddy comedy 48 Hrs. The picture proved a major hit, and at just 21 Murphy attained Hollywood superstar status, sealed by a $15-million Paramount Pictures contract.

The Delirious concert tour followed in 1983; captured during a sold-out August show, the album Eddie Murphy: Comedian reached the Top 40, while his second movie, Trading Places, became the year’s highest-grossing release. A minor part in the 1984 flop Best Defense marked his initial setback, yet he rebounded the next year with Beverly Hills Cop, one of the most lucrative films ever released. Also in 1985 he collaborated with producer Rick James on the R&B album How Could It Be, which yielded the massive single “Party All the Time.”

At the height of his box-office dominance, Murphy joined the 1986 fantasy-action comedy The Golden Child; the project failed both commercially and critically, placing his drawing power in doubt for the first time. Although Beverly Hills Cop II became 1987’s top-grossing hit and revived much of his luster, the concert film Raw attracted backlash for its abrasive, politically incorrect material. After Coming to America delivered strong returns in 1988, he wrote, directed, and starred in Harlem Nights the following year; the Black gangster drama underperformed and received harsh reviews.

In the wake of that disappointment, Murphy reunited with Nick Nolte for Another 48 Hrs. in 1990. Its failure sent his career into a decline; neither Boomerang nor The Distinguished Gentleman in 1992 matched earlier successes, the 1993 album Love’s Alright did not chart, and even the anticipated Beverly Hills Cop III faltered in 1994. Following the ill-conceived horror comedy Vampire in Brooklyn in 1995, he scored a hit with the 1996 remake of Jerry Lewis’s The Nutty Professor, only to see the 1997 action-adventure film Metro collapse.