Eddie Murphy was born in the projects of Brooklyn, and seemed destined for comedy from a young age. He picked up a sle of funny voices from watching television, and soon became his family's entertainment. He and his friends found amusement by playing dozens, trying to out-insult each other. He was so good that he won a school sponsored contest of dozens when he was fifteen.
His father, a policeman, died when Eddie was very young. He and his brother were raised by their mother, a tlelephone operator, and her second husband, an ice cream factory foreman.
Murphy's fame came after years of hard work and self-promotion. In his late teens, he entered and won many talent contests. He eventually got a regular gig at a small bar, where he was billed as the next Richard Pryor.
He became a salesman at a mall shoe store, and enrolled at Nassau Community College while continuing to performs in clubs.
In 1980, he got a spot as an occasional performer on Saturday Night Live's Not Ready for Prime Time Players. He was so popular that he was soon added to the main cast, where he gave memorable character performances such as Gumby, inner city kiddie show host Mr. Robinson, and Buckwheat.
At age 21, he got his first movie role in 48 Hours, alongside Nick Nolte. His next role was in Trading Places, in which he appeared with fellow SNL star Dan Aykroyd.
Soon he had a $15 million dollar Paramount deal, an entourage, and a spot on a Barbara Walters special, and Murphy's extremely successful (and gay-bashing, obscenity-laden, and misogynistic) comedy records and concerts made him even more popular. He also did three pop albums with Rick James, produced the R&B album How Could it Be.
In 1984 he appeared as Axel Foley, a wisecracking detective in Beverly Hills Cop. Over the next several years he appeared in the films The Golden Child and Coming to America.
Next Murphy tried his hand at producing, directing, writing, and starring in Harlem Nights. Though the film featured a talented cast including Murphy's idol and friend Richard Pryor, it was a flop. Soon critics were saying Murphy's career was over. But just as everyone had given up on him, he apeeared in a very successful remake of Jerry Lewis' The Nutty Professor. Suddenly, Murphy had made a comeback.
He did the voice of the dragon in Disney's animated Mulan, and he was Dr. Dolittle in the 1998 nonmusical remake. On the small screen, Murphy executive-produced and provided voice for the claymation series The PJs. As for the future, he is developing sequels to both the Beverly Hills Cop series (the fourth installment) and The Nutty Professor.
Murphy isn't worried about his career. "So what if my career dies?" he says. "I stopped thinking in terms of career $80 million ago. If it ends, I'll sit home and chill and raise babies." After some wild living in his earlier life, he married model Nicole Mitchell in 1993. They have three children.
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