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Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, which he was a cast member from 1980 to 1984. Eddie was part of the 1980s completely new SNL cast. That cast was fired at the end of the season, except for Eddie and Joe Piscopo. For the next few years, they dominated SNL, with the rest of the cast only supporting them.

Eddie Murphy's last episode as a regular cast member was on April 14, 1984. He has since starred in movies and recorded two albums of serious music. On December 11, 1982 episode, Eddie hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time and was the only person to host while he was still a cast member, with musical guest Lionel Richie. On December 21, 2019, the tenth episode and the Christmas show of Season 45, he returned to Saturday Night Live to hosted for the 3rd time and for the first time in 35 years, 5 months and 19 days, with musical guest Lizzo.

Murphy is also well known for the movie Coming to America (1988), a movie where an African prince flees to Queens, New York to find a woman who he can marry and love for who she is, instead of for status or for not being trained to please him; and it's sequel Coming 2 America (2021). Murphy is cast as Akeem (the protagonist), two of the barbers, and Randy Watson, the vocalist of the band Sexual Chocolate; while Arsenio Hall is cast as Akeem's companion Simi, a third barber, and the Extremely Ugly Girl.

Murphy has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs. (1982), the Beverly Hills Cop series (1984–present), Trading Places (1983), The Nutty Professor (1996), and Dolemite Is My Name (2019). He has also won numerous awards for his work on the fantasy comedy film Dr. Dolittle (1998) and its 2001 sequel. In 2007, Murphy won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in the musical film Dreamgirls.

Murphy has worked as a voice actor, including roles playing the Chinese dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan (1998), Thurgood Stubbs in the sitcom The PJs (1999–2001), and Donkey in DreamWorks Animation's Shrek series (2001–2010). In some films he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character; this is intended as a tribute to one of his idols, Peter Sellers. He has played multiple roles in Coming to America (1988), Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), the Nutty Professor films, Bowfinger (1999), The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), Norbit (2007), and Meet Dave (2008). As of 2016, Murphy's films have grossed over $3.8 billion ($6.5 billion adjusted for inflation) in the United States and Canada box office, and over $6.7 billion worldwide. In 2015, his films made him the sixth-highest grossing actor in the United States.

In 2015, Murphy was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2020, he won his first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for hosting Saturday Night Live. As a singer, Murphy has released three studio albums, including How Could It Be (1985), So Happy (1989), and Love's Alright (1993).

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