Edward Regan Murphy was born on April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in the Bushwick section of the borough.¹⁾

His mother, Lillian, worked as a telephone operator, while his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer who also dabbled in acting and comedy.²⁾

When Murphy's single mother fell ill, he and his elder brother were placed in foster care for a year.³⁾

Murphy has stated in interviews that his stint in foster care influenced the development of his sense of humor. His mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, an ice cream plant foreman, reared him and his older brother Charlie in Roosevelt, New York.⁴⁾

Murphy began composing and performing his own routines at the age of 15, largely influenced by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.⁵⁾

His early humor was distinguished by frequent cursing and skits that satirized a wide range of characters (including White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs), African Americans, Italian Americans, overweight people, and LGBT people).⁶⁾

Murphy put out two stand-up specials.⁷⁾

Eddie Murphy, his debut album, was published in 1982. Delirious was shot in Washington, D.C. in 1983. Due to Delirious' fame, his concert video Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) gained a wide cinematic distribution, generating $50 million; the film was shot in New York's Felt Forum part of Madison Square Garden.⁸⁾

From 1980 until 1984, Murphy was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has performed stand-up comedy and was voted #10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-up Comedians of All Time.⁹⁾

Murphy has been nominated for Golden Globes for his roles in 48 Hrs., the Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor.¹⁰⁾

He won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in 2007 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as soul singer James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls.¹¹⁾

Murphy's cinematic roles include Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in DreamWorks' Shrek franchise, and the Chinese dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan.¹²⁾

He performs many roles in certain films, in addition to his primary character, as a tribute to one of his idols, Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and other films.¹³⁾

Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he portrayed the lead part in two iterations, as well as his character's father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Norbit, and Meet Dave are among his many credits.¹⁴⁾

As of 2014, Murphy's films had made over $3.8 billion at the box office in the United States and Canada, and $6.6 billion globally.¹⁵⁾