My Favorite Eddie Murphy Performances
 

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His amazing career began at the age of 19 when he was hired as the youngest actor ever to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. His impact on that show was such that he actually made three movies while he was still on the show and signed a five picture deal with Paramount Studios. His 40 year career has garnered him an Oscar nomination, two Golden Globes (including the 2023 Cecil B DeMille award), and after four previous nominations, finally won his first Emmy when he returned to host SNL in 2019. It goes without saying that I'd love to hear some input on what performances you would like to see here. And now my favorite performances of the one and only Eddie Murphy:

25. Mushu, Mulan

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Murphy lent his voice to this thankless comic relief character in the Disney film playing a pint-sized dragon who is the best friend of a woman posing as a man so that she can serve in her country's army instead of her ailing grandfather.

24. "G", Holy Man

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Murphy's presence in the title role almost saves this silly comedy about a phoney TV evangelist who finds a new and profitable con via a home shopping network.

23. Quick, Harlem Nights

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Murphy produced, directed, co-wrote and starred in this expensively mounted gangster spoof that was one of his biggest box office bombs, but he manages to exude some charm as a young black gangster involved in a turf war with a white gangster (Danny Aiello), while coming to the realization that his mentor Sugar Ray (Richard Pryor) might be his father.

I thought he was very good in 48 Hours (1982), especially so up against Nick Nolte who is very powerful.

That film couldn't be made today because it would seem way too trite. At least I think it would...:)

22.

Charlie Hinton, Daddy Day Care

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Murphy was the best thing about this juvenile comedy about a trio of advertising executives who lose their jobs and decide to open up a daycare center in Charlie's home.

21. Rayford Gibson, Life

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Murphy and Martin Lawrence play strangers who are convicted to life in prison for a crime they didn't commit and form a lifelong friendship.

20. Various Characters, Saturday Night Live

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After almost 30 years after leaving the show as a regular cast member, Murphy returned to the show in 2019 as host and everything he did was so golden that the appearance won Murphy his first and only Emmy award.

19. Kelly Robinson, I Spy

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The character was a little more obnoxious than most of Eddie's movie characters, but he garners laughs as a boxing champion who is recruited by the government to help a secret agent (Owen Wilson) take down an arms dealer (Malcolm McDowell).

18. John Dolittle, Dr. Dolittle

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In this re-imagining of the 1967 Rex Harrison musical, Murphy plays a doctor who discovers he can talk to animals. All of the animals in this film are provided with celebrity voices.

Re: My Favorite Eddie Murphy Performances
 

I only think of a few film performances by Murphy that I care about. That you're naming 25 seems to imply you're a real fan of his work. By my lights, he was golden right up to the moment he did The Golden Child.

1) 48 Hours
2) Beverly Hills Cop
3) Trading Places


After these I can tap out in the Eddie Murphy game.

17. Trey Sellars, Showtime

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Actually, Murphy was really funny in this silly movie where he played a cop who really wants to be an actor. He finally gets a chance to combine his job with his passion when he is selected to co-star on a reality show with a crusty veteran cop (Robert De Niro).

I wanted to like Showtime a lot more than I did. It's okay and William Shatner is really funny, but Murphy constantly seems restrained by the rather basic dialogue and doesn't get to demonstrate his full strength as a comedic actor. His chemistry with De Niro is still pretty solid, it was just a minor disappointment overall.

I love Life and was hoping it would be higher up, but still glad it made the list.

16. Various Characters, Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps

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Murphy works very hard in this film playing multiple characters like he did in the first film, though a good part of this film is focused on Sherman's parents (also played by Murphy) whose marriage is challenged when Mr. Klump takes a youth potion.

15.
Slide, Tower Heist

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Murphy made the most of what is pretty much a thankless role in this all-star heist comedy playing a childhood acquaintance of a hotel employee (Ben Stiller) who agrees to help Stiller steal $20,000,000 from a hotel guest (Alan Alda) who is under house arrest for insider trading.

14.

Himself, Raw

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It wasn't as good as his first concert film, but Eddie still brought the funny in this one. I especially loved the story that allowed him to do flawless impressions of Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.

13.

Maximillian, A Vampire in Brooklyn

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One of Eddie's most underrated performances was as a vampire who travels to Brooklyn to make a beautiful police officer (Angela Bassett) his soul mate.

12.

Prince Akeem, Clarence, Saul, Coming to America

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I've always found the film slightly overrated, but it was one of Eddie's biggest hits. Eddie plays the obscenely wealthy crown prince of a fictional African country who balks when his father (James Earl Jones) has picked out a bride for him and decides to travel to America to find a bride of his own by pretending to be poor.

11.

Thomas Jefferson Johnson, The Distinguished Gentleman

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A nearly forgotten gem from Eddie's resume. Eddie plays a conman who decides the real money is in politics and decides to run for Congress using the name of a deceased congressman but after winning the election, he finds manipulating congress isn't as easy as he thought.

10.

Professor Sherman Klump, The Nutty Professor

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Eddie received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in this re-thinking of the Jerry Lewis classic playing a sweet, lonely, and brilliant college professor who creates a potion that turns him into a skinny and obnoxious womanizer named Buddy Love. In addition to playing Sherman, Eddie also plays Sherman's mother, father, uncle, and grandmother.

9.

Himself, Delirious

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While he was still a regular on SNL, Eddie knocked it out of the park with this roll on the floor funny, if not necessarily politically correct comedy concert that finds Eddie doing lots of impressions, telling funny stories about his relative, and a set of jokes that revealed his latent homophobia that definitely wouldn't play as well in 2023. But it still makes me laugh out loud no matter how many times I watch it.

8.

Reggie Hammond, 48 HRS

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Eddie knocked his film debut out of the park as a con who helps a veteran cop (Nick Nolte) find the guy who committed a murder with the cop's gun.

7.

Mr. Church, Mr. Church

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Eddie nailed a real change of pace for himself here that nobody really noticed. Eddie plays a former jazz musician and gourmet cook who is sent by his former employer to work for his dying mistress and her teenage daughter.

6.

Donkey, Shrek

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Murphy stole every scene he had providing the voice for a very gregarious donkey who bulldozes his way into the life of a lonely ogre (voiced by Mike Meyers).

5.

Kitt Ramsey, Jiff Ramsey, Bowfinger


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Eddie was again robbed of an Oscar nomination for this brilliant dual role as a famous action star who is being used as the star of a movie without his knowledge and his look a like cousin, who is being used for stunts and closeups. As expected, it's Eddie's work as the nerdy Jiff that stands out.

4.

Rudy Ray Moore, Dolemite is my Name

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Murphy was robbed of an Oscar nomination for his ferocious performance as the former nightclub comedienne who creates a screen alter ego named Dolemite who becomes a box office sensation.

3.

Billy Ray Valentine, Trading Places

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Murphy showed up an impressive supporting cast in this classy comedy playing a poor hustler and ex-con who is plucked off the streets by a pair of wealthy stockbrokers (Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche) to switch lives with their trust fund nephew, Louis (Dan Aykroyd) as part of a "social experiment."

2.

James "Thunder" Early, Dreamgirls

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In an absolutely dazzling performance that earned Murphy his only Oscar nomination to date, Murphy plays a womanizing, heroine-sniffing lounge singer, allegedly based on James Brown, who uses and abuses the Dreams until they get famous without him and his career and life self-destruct. This is the only feature length film that actually allows Murphy to utilize his quietly concealed musical talent and he makes the most of it.


OK, that's number two...before I reveal number one, which shouldn't nbe much of a surprise, here are a couple of honorable mentions:

Marcus, Boomerang

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Eddie really brought the sexy in this performance playing a womanizing ad executive who finds his match in his new boss (Robin Givens), who treats men the same way he treats woman.

Inspector Scott Roper, Metro

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The movie died at the box office, but Eddie offers another change of pace performance as a hostage negotiator who goes after a diamond thief.

The King, Remember the Time

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Eddie is hysterically funny in this Michael Jackson music video where he steals the show without saying a word.


And now, anyone with half a brain probably already knows what my # 1 is, but here it goes anyway...my # 1 favorite Eddie Murphy performance"

1.

Detective Axel Foley, Beverly Hills Cop

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I've lost track of how many times I've watched this movie, but I never get tired of doing so. Murphy became the biggest movie star on the planet with this performance. Axel is a Detroit police detective who is visited by a childhood buddy (James Russo) who shortly after his arrival, is murdered right in front of Axel. This takes Axel to Beverly Hills to find out who was behind his friend's murder. Whether he's driving a pair of Beverly Hills cops (Judge Reinhold, John Ashton) crazy, pretending to be a customs official, or pretending to be the bad guy's gay lover, Murphy gives a one man comedy acting class here that should be studied. An instant classic that is still as funny as it was 40 years ago.





Hope someone enjoyed the list.

Re: My Favorite Eddie Murphy Performances
 

I love Eddie Murphy the most, when he is just standing there keeping his mouth shut while not making grimaces.

On a more serious note, i was laughing so hard at the end-credits bloopers in "THE NUTTY PROFESSOR", that i actually rewind/repeat that part for multiple times. I also think "THE NUTTY PROFESSOR" was one of his better movies.