Eddie Murphy roles
Saturday Night Live (1980–84)
Murphy first appears on the sixth season of the comedy sketch show, playing fan-favorite characters like Gumby, Mister Robinson and James Brown over four successful seasons.
48 Hrs. (1982)
This buddy movie marks his first feature film, starring as convict Reggie Hammond, released from prison for 48 hours to help a cop (Nick Nolte) solve a crime.
Trading Places (1983)
Murphy plays street hustler Billy Ray Valentine in this hit comedy in which he switches places with a wealthy executive (Dan Aykroyd) as part of a bet arranged by two rich brokers.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
He’s brazen, smart-aleck police detective Axel Foley in a film that spawned two sequels, with a third—Beverly Hills Cop 4—underway.
Eddie Murphy: Delirious (1983)
He mines his standup roots and turned his Grammy-winning album Eddie Murphy: Comedian into a seminal HBO stand-up special—the one with the epic “ice cream man” joke—and followed it up four years later with Raw.
The Nutty Professor (1996)
As obese research scientist Sherman Klump—just one of seven roles Murphy plays in this remake of a Jerry Lewis 1963 classic—he develops an experimental weight loss formula and tests it on himself.
Shrek (2001)
“I’m making waffles!” Murphy has been voicing Shrek and Fiona’s goofy talkative sidekick Donkey in this franchise’s films, specials and video games for nearly two decades.
Dreamgirls (2006)
His James Brown–inspired role as R&B star James “Thunder” Early (for whom the Dreamettes sing backup) earned Murphy an Academy Award nomination.
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
In this lauded biopic, Murphy takes on the real-life role of foul-mouthed, rhyming, rapping, raunchy 1970s comedian Rudy Ray Moore.
Coming to America and Coming 2 America (1988 and 2021)
