The Nutty Professor

Eddie Murphy

Murphy dazzled on "Saturday Night Live" with his portrayal of stars ranging from Stevie Wonder to Buckwheat to Gumby. He also starred in such skits as "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood," where he played a streetwise parody of Mr. Rogers.

When he made the jump to the ... morebig screen, he racked up a series of hits with a total gross of $3.4 billion, from "48 Hrs." to "Beverly Hills Cop" to "Trading Places" and "Boomerang." He became well-known for his trademark laugh and for playing multiple roles in a single movie, as in "Coming to America" and "The Nutty Professor."

Perhaps ironically, the man behind such raunchy but hilarious concert films as "Raw" and "Delirious" now stars in family-friendly fare, most notably voicing Donkey in "Shrek." He was nominated for the Oscar and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Dreamgirls." (Sara De Boer/Retna Ltd.)