Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-, Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actor and comedian.
Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, Lillian, was a telephone operator, and his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer and amateur comedian. Murphy's father left the family when Murphy was three and was stabbed to death when Murphy was eight. Murphy and his brother Charlie were raised by his mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, a foreman at an ice cream plant. Around the age of 19, Murphy was writing and performing his own routines, which were heavily influenced by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor. Eddi attended the Long Island Educational Opportunity Center during is late teens, and was the class clown.
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.
In 1980, the then unknown Murphy badgered talent coordinator Neil Levy to give him a shot on Saturday Night Live. Levy repeatedly rejected him, saying that the show already had a full cast. But Murphy continued pleading with Levy, saying that he had several siblings banking on him getting a spot on the show. Levy finally conceded and allowed him an audition. On the basis of the audition performance, Levy then began advocating to new executive producer Jean Doumanian to let Murphy on the show. After seeing Murphy's audition for herself, she too began pleading with the network to allow Murphy on the show. NBC only agreed after it was determined that Robert Townsend had not yet signed a contract, at which point Murphy was cast as a featured player.
Murphy made his debut in the second episode of the 1980-1981 season, hosted by Malcolm McDowell, as an extra in a skit called "In Search of the Negro Republican". Two weeks later, Murphy had his first speaking role as Raheem Abdul Muhummad on Weekend Update. He was then called on for more work in later episodes, and was soon raised to the status of full cast member.
In 1982, Murphy made his big screen debut in the 48 Hrs. alongside Nick Nolte.
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 mid-1980s (although he actually started singing earlier in his career, with the songs "Boogie In Your Butt" and "Enough Is Enough", the latter being a parody of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer's 1979 song, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)". They both appear on his 1982 self-titled comedy album.) "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.</p>
In 1985, King Broder claimed Murphy had signed an "indefinite contract" with him when Murphy was 19 and sued him for $30 million for breach of contract when Murphy was worth an estimated $50 million dollars. Broder even claimed Murphy got his 'Buckwheat' character from an idea he had for 'The Identical Triplets.' In court papers filed in State Supreme Court in Mineola, New York, Murphy said he and Broder had verbally agreed to dissolve the relationship before the end of 1980. Murphy stated, at the time, "[He] was working as a shoe salesman and had very limited professional experience when [he] signed the agreement." He also charged that Broder misrepresented himself as the agent for singers Tina Turner, Neil Sedaka and comedian Andy Kaufman. As Murphy was in the process of filming Beverly Hills Cop II at the time of the suit, Paramount Pictures ended up settling the case out of court and paying Broder an undisclosed amount so that they would not lose any more money in production costs. However, Buchwald and his partner Alain Bernheim did win the suit against Paramount Pictures, were awarded damages, and then accepted a settlement from Paramount. The case was the subject of a 1992 book, Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald V. Paramount by Pierce O'Donnell and Dennis McDougal.
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), although he did find minor box office success with The Distinguished Gentleman, Boomerang, 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.
Murphy's box office results began to recover in 1996, starting with The Nutty Professor.
In 2007, Murphy was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Murphy 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, Eddie Murphy picked up pre-op transsexual prostitute Atisone Seiuli 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.
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. 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 that a DNA test had confirmed that Murphy was the father.
Brown's daughter is Murphy's seventh child; he has four daughters, Bria, Shane Audra, Zola Ivy, and Bella Zahra and one son, Miles Mitchell from his previous marriage to Nicole Mitchell, and another son, Christian 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.