Eddie Murphy Photos and Biography

 Edward “Eddie” Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and comedian. Murphy ranks as the number #1 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.

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 fictitious 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, the Nutty Professor films, where he played much of the Klumps clan, and 2007’s Norbit.

Another trademark of Murphy is his deep, infectious, and considerably goofy laugh. One other trademark of his is his catchphrase “how you doin’?”, which is similar to Will Smith’s “Aw hell no!” or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll be back!”

Murphy is also a singer and musician, having frequently provided background vocals to songs released by the The Bus Boys. As a solo artist, Murphy had two hit singles, “Party All the Time” (which was produced by Rick James) and “Put Your Mouth on Me” in the 1980s. “Party All the Time” was featured on Murphy’s 1985 debut album How Could It Be, which also included a minor follow-up R&B hit in the title track, a duet with vocalist Crystal Blake. T

his track was written by Rusty Hamilton and was produced by Stevie Wonder’s cousin Aquil Fudge after a brief falling out and bet with Rick James. In 2004, VH-1 and Blender magazine voted “Party All the Time” number seven among the “50 Worst Songs of All-Time.” Sharam used a sample of Murphy’s “Party All The Time” for the UK #8 hit “PATT (Party All The Time)” in 2006.

Murphy recorded the album Love’s Alright in the early 1990s. He performed in a video of the single “Whatzupwitu”, featuring Michael Jackson. In 1999, the “Whatzupwitu” video, which featured Murphy and Jackson in a technicolor-like dream world, was voted as number three among the 25 worst music videos in the MTV era. He also recorded a duet with Shabba Ranks called “I Was a King”, which was similarly panned. In 1992, Murphy also appeared in Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” video alongside Magic Johnson and Iman.

Although uncredited, Murphy provided vocal work on SNL castmate Joe Piscopo’s comedy single, “The Honeymooners Rap.” Piscopo impersonated Jackie Gleason on the single, while Murphy provided an imitation of Art Carney.

In Coming to America, Murphy imitated Jackie Wilson when he sang “To Be Loved,” but because the character he was playing had a thick accent, he had to sing it in character. In later years, Murphy performed several songs in the Shrek film franchise. In the first film, he performed a version of “I’m a Believer” in the film’s final scene; in Shrek 2 he performed Ricky Martin’s hit “Livin’ La Vida Loca” along with co-star Antonio Banderas.

From 1989 until the mid-1990s, box office results for Murphy’s films dropped, particularly with Beverly Hills Cop III (a movie Murphy would ultimately denounce during an appearance on Inside the Actors Studio), and Vampire in Brooklyn, although he did find success with The Distinguished Gentleman, Boomerang and Another 48 Hrs.. His directorial debut, Harlem Nights, is widely seen as a vanity project and the first step in Murphy’s career slump. 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.

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 Murphy giving several future stars roles in his films, for example Damon Wayans in Beverly Hills Cop, Halle Berry and Martin Lawrence in Boomerang, Samuel L. Jackson and Cuba Gooding Jr in Coming to America and Raw, Dave Chappelle in The Nutty Professor and Chris Rock who was in Beverly Hills Cop II and Boomerang. 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 has enjoyed commercial success since Saturday Night Live, he has never attended cast reunions, anniversary specials, or 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).

Some believe Murphy feels that SNL betrayed him with Spade’s comments (although he hadn’t attended the 15th Anniversary special before the comments were made). Others believe Murphy’s lack of allegiance to producer Lorne Michaels was responsible, 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.

Murphy’s box office results began to recover in 1996, starting with The Nutty Professor. He followed with a series of very successful family-friendly movies like Mulan, Dr. Dolittle and its sequel, the Shrek series, Daddy Day Care, and The Haunted Mansion, along with Nutty Professor II, which some attribute to his real-life role as a family man. However, most of his movies meant for more adult audiences performed moderately- Metro, I Spy, and Showtime all ended to gross less than $40 million domestically, Holy Man performed badly grossing less than $13 million, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash is on record as one of the biggest theatrical money-losers of all time, grossing just $7 million worldwide on a reported $110 million budget. A notable exception to this run of poorly received adult -themed films was the Frank Oz comedy Bowfinger, also starring Steve Martin. A biting satire on the Hollywood movie industry, Bowfinger garnered generally positive critical reviews, and grossed a respectable $66 million at the US box office.

But his fortunes turned around in 2006/2007 with the motion picture version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls as soul singer James “Thunder” Early. Murphy won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in that category. Several reviews for the film highlighted Murphy’s performance while he received some pre-release Academy Awards buzz. Murphy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on January 23, 2007, but lost to Alan Arkin for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine.

Dreamgirls was the first film distributed by Paramount Pictures to star Murphy (who once signed an exclusive contract with the studio) since Vampire in Brooklyn in 1995. As a result of Viacom’s acquisition of Dreamworks SKG, Paramount distributed his other 2007 releases: Norbit and Shrek the Third. He is currently filming NowhereLand for Paramount Pictures.

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 not participate in the fourth installment of the series. Murphy recently told the Sun Online that “the new script is looking good.” In 2007, Murphy was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Personal life: Murphy was rumored to have dated Whitney Houston before meeting his wife. He began a longtime romantic relationship with Nicole Mitchell after meeting her in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show. They lived together for a year and a half before getting married at the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 18, 1993. In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The divorce was finalized on April 17, 2006..

On May 2, 1997, around 4:45am, Eddie Murphy picked up pre-op transsexual prostitute Atisone Seiuli aka Shalimar on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. This area was to be inside a “prostitution abatement zone” designated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies pulled over Murphy’s Toyota Land Cruiser, arrested his passenger for outstanding warrants, and released Murphy. The incident made tabloids and late night talk show monologues for months afterwards. The scandal prompted several other sex workers to come forward to the media about their alleged meetings with the actor.

Paul Barresi, a private investigator allegedly hired by Murphy for damage control when the scandal broke, told a source: “I called Marty ‘Bull Dog’ Singer [Murphy’s attorney] and told him I could round up all the transsexuals alleging sexual dalliances with Murphy.” And they would all recant their stories. Within ten days, Barresi said, “I got them all to sign sworn, videotaped depositions, stating it wasn’t Murphy himself, but rather a look-alike, who they’d encountered - with the exception of Seiuli.”

Following his divorce from Mitchell, he dated Melanie Brown, who stated that her child is Murphy’s. Mitchell has considered arguing that Murphy breached their prenuptial agreement. It was widely reported that the reason may have been directly related to the 1997 sex worker incident. When questioned about the pregnancy in December 2006, Murphy told a reporter, “I don’t know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn’t jump to conclusions, sir.” Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, on Murphy’s 46th birthday, April 3, 2007. On June 22, 2007, representatives for Brown announced in People magazine that a DNA test had confirmed that Murphy was the father. Brown’s daughter is Murphy’s seventh child; he has five children from his previous marriage to Nicole Mitchell, and another son from a previous relationship.

Murphy exchanged marriage vows with film producer Tracey Edmonds, former wife of Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, on January 1, 2008 in a private ceremony on an island off Bora Bora. It was announced on January 16, 2008 that they never legally wed, had decided to forgo legalizing their union and had instead chosen to remain friends.

• Eddie Murphy Website: http://www.westlord.com/eddie-murphy/