Eddie Murphy's most memorable characters

Eddie Murphy shot to stardom at an age when most people haven’t even graduated college. He became an immediate star on “Saturday Night Live” and was given his first starring film role – “48 Hours” – when he was only 22. While his career definitely has had some down points, he’s had a lengthy, impressive career. Murphy has had a litany of memorable movie roles, to say nothing of his “SNL” roles. Here are the most memorable characters Murphy has played.

We’ll wrap a few of Murphy’s classic “SNL” characters into one section. There are his takes on existing characters such as Gumby and Buckwheat, of course. Then, there’s Mr. Robinson, the star of “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood.” Murphy quickly became a superstar on the long-running sketch show, giving him an opportunity to play a variety of characters and to drive his most-popular characters into the ground eventually.

Murphy got his first chance at movie stardom in “48 Hrs,” a fairly serious cop film with only some smatterings of comedy. Nick Nolte costars as a cop, while Murphy plays Hammond, a convict let out of prison to help with a murder investigation. Again, Murphy was only 22, but his screen presence and charisma were clear. That led to a sequel film, “Another 48 Hrs,” eventually.

“48 Hrs” was maybe a bit of a surprise as the first film for a comedian like Murphy. His second film, “Trading Places,” was much more up his alley. The actor basically got to riff and build on his persona alongside Dan Aykroyd. A lot of the film doesn’t hold up, frankly, but a lot of people still consider “Trading Places” a classic ‘80s comedy.

They don’t really make action-comedies like “Beverly Hills Cop” anymore. This is a shame, because “Beverly Hills Cop” is a really good movie. Murphy stars as Foley in a classic fish-out-of-water film, as he plays a Detroit cop in Beverly Hills in the first movie. It proved popular enough to yield two sequels, making Foley one of Murphy’s iconic characters.

Speaking of fish-out-of-water tales, “Coming to America” is on that vein as well. Murphy stars as Prince Akeem of Zamunda, who leaves his throne in Africa to come to America to try and find a wife. He doesn’t understand life in Queens, New York. Wackiness ensues. This is another beloved ‘80s comedy, and it got a much-delayed sequel in 2021, “Coming 2 America.”

This is another character from “Coming to America.” We said this was a list of Murphy’s most memorable characters, and the actor has an affinity for playing multiple roles in the same film. “Coming to America” was the first time that Murphy got a chance to do this, not including his time on “SNL,” of course. He plays a few characters, but his most memorable of the secondary characters has to be Mr. Randy Watson, frontman of Sexual Chocolate.

Murphy didn’t act in many romantic comedies. There may be a racial component to that, unfortunately, but whatever the reason he didn’t go down that road in his career. Murphy did give it a chance, though, with “Boomerang.” Over time, the reputation of “Boomerang” has improved, however, and now Murphy’s turn as Marcus Graham gets more love.

“The Nutty Professor” saw Murphy remaking a Jerry Lewis film and on top of that, he really went all-in on the “multiple characters” thing. Murphy plays a half-a-dozen characters or so, most of the members of the Klump family. That includes the main character Sherman Klump, the genial professor who stumbles upon a fantastical formula.

Sherman is considered to be not terribly suave, especially with women, in “The Nutty Professor.” Then, he finds a formula that completely transforms him, physically and also in terms of personality, into his alter ego, Buddy Love. Basically, it’s a Steve Urkel into Stefan Urquelle situation, an analogy that should explain everything.

Murphy has the ability to make an impact in movies even when you can’t see him. He has a distinct voice and can throw himself into a vocal role that still brings plenty of energy. The actor enjoyed his first animated role when he played Mushu in “Mulan,” one of Disney’s many hit movies. It proved popular enough to get a live-action remake, though Mushu wasn’t involved in that.

Dr. Dolittle is a character that started in a book and became a movie character that has been portrayed many times over. With respect to Rex Harrison and Robert Downey Jr., the best-remembered of the Dolittles is Murphy, who played him in multiple films. We don’t necessarily think they are good films, but they were popular family fare.

“Life” isn’t one of Murphy’s biggest hits, but it’s actually a cultishly-adored film. To some, it’s one of his best movies and a classic ‘90s comedy. To be fair, it does feature the dynamic duo of Murphy and Martin Lawrence, who were both still big stars in 1999. They would both head in a downward direction soon enough, but “Life” was kind of a last hurrah for them.

The premise of “Bowfinger” is fairly clever. Steve Martin plays Bobby Bowfinger, a low-level filmmaker who tries to figure out a way to get his movie made. He decides to surreptitiously film the big action star Kit Ramsey around town, telling his other actors that Kit is just being method when he acts confused or scared. Murphy plays Kit, who also is a member of an unusual Hollywood religion that may or may not be a parody of “Scientology.”

One Ramsey brother wasn’t enough to make “Chubby Rain,” the film-within-a-film in “Bowfinger,” happen. Bowfinger couldn’t shoot all the films secretly from a distance. For those other scenes, Bowfinger brings in Jiff Ramsey, Kit’s brother, as his ostensible “stunt double.” Jiff isn’t really an actor, though, which causes a whole different set of problems.

Since “Saturday Night Live,” Murphy hasn’t really done television. There is one exception, though. Murphy voiced Thurgood Stubbs, the main character on “The PJs,” a cartoon that aired on FOX. Murphy also created the show and served as an executive producer. The show only lasted 31 episodes, but “The PJs” made a splash.

To a younger generation, Murphy is known first and foremost as the voice of Donkey from “Shrek.” “Shrek” was a huge hit. It spawned three sequels. It’s one of the most successful animated film franchises ever. Donkey definitely sounds like Murphy and has his energy as a character. For better or worse, Murphy may end up best remembered for this role.

Look, we said these were memorable roles, not best roles. “Adventures of Pluto Nash” was a famed flop. It was arguably his first big live-action flop and the start of the decline to Murphy’s career. The movie is iconically bad, and having a character name like “Pluto Nash” definitely helped make him memorable as well.

Murphy rarely does supporting roles. Even as Donkey he’s almost a co-lead with Shrek. For a chance at an Oscar, though, Murphy stepped into the role of James Early in “Dreamgirls.” The movie was super successful, and Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar for it. Murphy was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Alan Arkin for “Little Miss Sunshine.”

Some theorize that the reason Murphy didn’t win his Oscar for “Dreamgirls” is that while voting was going on Murphy’s movie “Norbit” came out. This may be the nadir of Murphy’s career. You probably didn’t see this atrocious movie. However, you likely remember the movie poster or the trailer. In which case, you remember Murphy’s turn as Rasputia, where he put on a fat suit and played a braying, confounding take on the nagging wife archetype. It was unbearable even in the little taste in that trailer, but Rasputia is burned into our memories forever, whether we like it or not.

Thankfully, after many forgettable films, Murphy enjoyed a bit of a comeback. In “Dolemite is My Name,” Murphy got to play a personal hero of his, Rudy Ray Moore. Moore was a guy on the fringes of show business who decided to try his hand at making a film. The movie that came from that, “Dolemite,” turned into a cult classic. The film is kind of a Blaxploitation version of “Ed Wood,” and Murphy got his best reviews in years.