Creating a roar of laughter when on stage, Eddie Murphy is the epitome of raw success as a comic.
It is difficult to proclaim if Saturday Night Live made Eddie Murphy a big deal or was it the other way round. When it comes to Comedy, Eddie Murphy could be termed a natural. Among other records, Murphy also broke box office grossing records and became the 6th highest-grossing actor in the USA.
Moreover, he is also a significant figure in Black cinema, bringing about new revolutions and taking forward the noble cause of representation in mainstream media. With aloof his record-shattering performances, Eddie has built a million-dollar empire.
The Early Life of Eddie Murphy
The legendary comic was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1961 and grew up in Bushwick. His mother was a telephone operator, and his father was an amateur comedian besides being a transit cop. Eddie drew early inspiration for comedy from his father, and when he lost his father at the age of eight, it had a tragic impact on him. Things became financially tight for Murphy, and his mother started growing ill too. As a result, Eddie and his elder brother were sent to a foster care home.
When he was in his adolescence, he found his calling for comedy. Murphy was a huge fan of the comedians Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, and they had some influence on him in his younger years. By 1980, Eddie was already prepared to do live performances and started being a part of the ‘Saturday Night Live’ at the tender age of 19. In 1981, Eddie’s salary on SNL was about $4,500 for every episode, and within a year, it went up to $30,000 per episode.
The Birth Of A Star
Saturday Night Live is a huge deal today but back when Eddie got recruited by SNL, it had lost all of its original star performers, and thus it struggled a little for fame. The legendary Eddie Murphy changed this situation once and for all. He worked for SNL for four long years from 1980 to 1984 and is known for creating the characters of Gumby, Mister Robinson, and Buckwheat.
While working as a comedian on famous platforms, Eddie also tried his luck in becoming a Hollywood star, and he knew he had the perfect skills for it. He made his debut with the movie ‘48 Hours’, which was released in 1982. One of his breakthroughs was the 1984 movie Beverly Hills Cop; although it was an action-comedy film, it pinned him on the scaffold of American cinema as a significant representative of the African American community.
The 1980s were an exciting time for Eddie Murphy fans. He did consecutive iconic performances in works like Trading Places, The Beverly Hills Cop films, Coming to America, Harlem Nights, and Another 48 Hrs. The next decade was a bit of slack for him compared to his high standards of success in the previous one.
Murphy, however, got back on track with new successes like 1988’s Coming to America, 1996’s The Nutty Professor, or 1998’s Doctor Dolittle. He was also the iconic voice behind the character of the dragon Mushu in the classic Hollywood animation movie Mulan that came out in 1998 for which grossed over $120,620,254. Doctor Dolittle also made a blast at the box office with a collection of about $144,156,605, while The Nutty Professor made about $$128,814,019, and Coming To America made about $128,152,301 in 1988.
Other than Mulan, Murphy has also been a legendary performer associated with the Shrek movie franchise. He even won the Golden Globe award for Dreamgirls in 2006 and a nomination for the Academy Award.
Murphy's Other Ventures
Eddie Murphy: Raw is still considered to be the most phenomenal breakthrough of Murphy in stand-up films as he made a grand $50.5 million out of it. Other than doing his stand-up acts and acting in Hollywood films, Eddie Murphy soon realized that he also had what it took to direct and produce movies. After his long-lasting success as an actor and comedian, he now also had the capital for launching his directorial debut.
The comic is known to have directed movies like Harlem Nights and has produced works like Vampire In Brooklyn and a 1999 movie called Life. 2017 was another exciting year for Eddie Murphy’s fans as he announced his plans to make a comeback in Beverly Hills Cop 4. Again in 2019, Murphy appeared in a reprise of the movie Coming To America which had previously been a hit in 1988, thanks to Murphy’s phenomenal performance.
One of the latest achievements of Eddie Murphy is landing a career with the online streaming platform Netflix, which has been streaming some of his phenomenal comedy acts alongside other comedians like Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock. Murphy, however, is making more money than his contemporaries on the platform and reportedly has taken home a cheque of $70 million out of this deal.
Eddie Murphy is worth an impressive $200 million in 2021 and likes to live a lavish life. The actor has purchased several luxurious estates over the years in different places like California and Beverly Hills. He is also known to own a private island called ‘Pearl Island’.
Source: The Laugh Button, Fox Business, Deante L. Young, Celebrity Net Worth, Wall Street Journal