Eddie Murphy

A comedy wunderkind who launched his stand-up career at age 15 and landed a spot on Saturday Night Live four years later, Murphy has enjoyed a roller-coaster career, with many remarkable highs and lows. Although he was originally hired as a featured player on SNL in 1980, by the end of his first season he had been promoted to full-fledged cast member. For the next four years, audiences were treated to his outrageous genius, including his hilarious characters (Buckwheat, Mr. Robinson, an urban take on Mr. Rogers, and a disgruntled Gumby) and uncanny impressions (Stevie Wonder and James Brown, both of which showed off his vocal chops). During his tenure on the sketch series, he made an auspicious film debut as a foul-mouthed criminal in the mismatched buddy action flick 48 Hrs. earning a Golden Globe nod. The next year he netted his second Golden Globe nomination as a smalltime conman turned big-time broker in Trading Places. Although both films were hits, they paled in comparison to the fish-out-of-water comedy Beverly Hills Cop, a smash that launched a lucrative franchise and earned Murphy a third Golden Globe nod. As a wiseass Detroit cop who travels to California to investigate the murder of a friend, the charismatic, politically-incorrect comic became a megastar at age 23. Two years later, Murphy got his first taste of failure with the critically lambasted (but still commercially successful) fantasy adventure Golden Child. He held that pattern with the inevitable sequel Beverly Hills Cop II, but the lame laughs in both films, as well as an atrocious (yet popular) pop single "Party All the Time," proved that ironically, Murphy wasn't always a golden child. In addition to his acting career, Murphy was known for his raunchy, sometimes offensive (particularly to gays) comedy albums and concert films (Delirious, Raw). In an attempt to cultivate a softer image, he starred as an African prince (as well as a host of other characters, including an old Jewish man) looking for love in the decidedly sweet 1988 romantic comedy Coming to America. But the next year in an egotistical frenzy, he wrote, directed, produced and starred in the bomb Harlem Nights opposite his longtime hero, Richard Pryor, who was none too pleased with the final product. In the '90s, Murphy found that he didn't rule the box office the way he had in the previous decade. Part of this was due to poor projects (Vampire in Brooklyn, Beverly Hills Cop III) but also a change in comedic tastes. His abrasive, street-smart, smart aleck routine wasn't as novel as it once was. He also became tabloid fodder, infamous for his womanizing, children out of wedlock, and a bizarre 1997 incident in which he was arrested for picking up a transvestite prostitute (he claimed he was just giving her a ride). Yet he weathered these scandals, and even managed to maintain a seemingly stable home life with his wife Nicole Mitchell and their children. In 1996 he made a comeback with the family-friendly remake of The Nutty Professor in which he again showcased his chameleonlike skills by inhabiting multiple characters; during the classic dinner scene many moviegoers didn't even realize Murphy was playing every single person (save one) at the table. The funnyman's subsequent pictures were a motley bunch. But for every adult-oriented flop (Showtime, I Spy, the infamous The Adventures of Pluto Nash) he