dward Regan "Eddie" Murphy
is an African American comedian and actor.
Murphy began his comedy career at the young age of
19, as a performer on NBC's Saturday Night Live television
show after graduating from Roosevelt Junior-Senior
High School. His characters include a parody of Buckwheat
from the Little Rascals and of Fred Rogers. Murphy
later starred in many comedies including the Beverly
Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and Coming to America.
He is a well-known voice actor and voiced the donkey
in the Shrek series and the dragon in Disney's Mulan.
In many of his films, he plays multiple roles in
addition to his main character. A perfect example of
this is The Nutty Professor, a remake of the Jerry
Lewis classic in which Murphy plays several members
of the Klump family as well as Sherman Klump's arrogant
alter ego, Buddy Love.
His early comedy was racy, akin to Richard Pryor,
whom Murphy says was the one "that wanted [him]
to get into comedy." Characterized by excessive
swearing and making fun of gays, singers, and others,
Murphy became, in a sense, the Pryor of the 1980s.
He made vicious comments about gays and AIDS during
his 80's standup routines, so vicious that some years
later he apologized for the remarks. However, in the
late 80's and early 90's, Murphy's fame was fading
via a series of poor sequels, drab comedies, and ego-driven
vehicles that the public avoided in droves. His directorial
debut, Harlem Nights was savaged not only by the critics,
but also by several of the actors in the film. Richard
Pryor had nothing good to say about the film or the
star, which stunned Murphy, who had considered Pryor
an idol.
Murphy's career continued to slide until 1996, when
he would make his comeback in family friendly comedies,
starting with The Nutty Professor. His record since
then has been hit and miss, with several big flops
(Holy Man, Pluto Nash, I Spy, Showtime) and some hits
(Dr. Doolitle, Shrek, Bowfinger, Daddy Daycare).
Murphy was also a one-hit wonder in the 1980s with
the single "Party All the Time." Intended
as dance music, the song was repetitious and resembled
the adolescent-driven bubblegum music of the '60s and
'70s. As a result, there was a distinct disconnect
between "Party" and fans of Murphy's edgier
comedic persona. In 2004, VH-1 and Blender magazine
voted "Party" number seven among the "50
Worst Songs of All Time," barely behind such efforts
as Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby" and Billy
Ray Cyrus' "Achy, Breaky Heart."
On May 2, 1997, Los Angeles police stopped Murphy
and found a transvestite prostitute, Shalomar (Atisone
Kenneth Seiuli), in the passenger's seat. Murphy claimed
that he had just been driving through and the prostitute
asked him for a ride home. This incident was later
lampooned on Saturday Night Live.
Eddie Murphy's older brother, Charlie Murphy, is
also an actor, most well known recently for his appearances
on Chappelle's Show. |
