Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-, Screen
Actors Guild Award-winning American actor, film director, producer and comedian. Murphy ranks as the
number one grossing film star in history, having a total of 33 films to date, his films grossing over
$3.4 billion in the US alone, averaging $104 million per film. He was a regular cast member on Saturday
Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He has also enjoyed a minor singing
career.

Born Edward Regan Murphy on April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, NY, the future comedian was the second born child
of New York City police officer, Charles Murphy, and his wife, Lillian. Although Murphy’s parents
divorced in 1964, Eddie and his older brother, Charles, Jr., remained in contact with their father until
his untimely death four years later.

Murphy has received Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a comedy or musical for his performances
in Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best
Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls, and received a
nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.

Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the
dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main
character, which he calls a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers (who is famous for playing multiple
roles in one film), films which Murphy has played multiple roles include Coming to America, Wes Craven's
Vampire In Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films, where he played much of the Klumps clan, Bowfinger and
2007's Norbit. Another trademark of Murphy is his deep, infectious, and considerably goofy laugh.

Murphy performed stand-up comedy at the same Bay Area Comedy Club as Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg.
His early comedy was racy, akin to Richard Pryor, whom Murphy has credited as his inspiration to enter
comedy.[4] Characterized by frequent swearing and homophobia, Murphy became, in a sense, the Pryor of the
1980s, though Pryor wrote in his autobiography, Pryor Convictions, that he always thought Murphy's comedy
was excessively insensitive. Murphy's comments about gays and AIDS in his standup routines were considered
so vicious that some years later he apologized for them. At the height of his popularity, Murphy appeared
in the concert films Delirious (1983) and Raw (1987).[4] Delirious contained an infamous routine in which
he depicted characters Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton from The Honeymooners, as well as other notables such
as Mr. T, as homosexuals. In 1983, Murphy won a Grammy for his comedy album Comedian.

In 1982, Murphy made his big screen debut in the 48 Hrs. alongside Nick Nolte. The movie was perhaps most
notable for two scenes: a scene involving Murphy (on a bet with Nolte) terrorizing a redneck bar, and 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. 48 Hrs. proved to be a smash hit when it was released in the Christmas season
of 1982. Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11, 1982 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, but
became too ill to host, so Murphy took over. He became the only cast member to host while still a regular.
Murphy opened the show with the phrase, "Live from New York, It's the Eddie Murphy Show!"

Murphy has donated money to the AIDS Foundation, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, various cancer
charities and $100,000 to the Screen Actors' Guild's strike relief fund.