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Eddie Murphy's career is a roller coaster ... we look at his ups and downs

By Frank Paiva
Special to MSN Movies

Eddie Murphy recently became the most profitable star in cinema history. According to tracking Web site BoxOfficeMojo.com, Murphy's 33 films have grossed a combined $3.4 billion. That's an average of $104.5 million per movie, which is certainly nothing to mock.

Yet, for all his financial success, the star has become infamous as of late for truly terrible comedies that tarnish his brilliant past work. For every "Trading Places," there's a "Golden Child." For every "Nutty Professor," a "Showtime." The wildly divergent quality of Murphy's filmography is second only to Woody Allen. When he's good, he's painfully hilarious. When he's bad, he's just a pain.

Murphy has been making people laugh since first appearing on "Saturday Night Live" in 1980. His parody of "Our Gang" child star Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas was an audience favorite, as were his impersonations of famous soul singers James Brown and Stevie Wonder. His television success led to a pair of highly successful concert films, which established the comedian as an incendiary successor to Richard Pryor's throne.

Soon Murphy hit the big time. He appeared in hit after Hollywood hit. His comedy album won a Grammy Award. His trio of R&B albums were detested by critics but cautiously embraced by the public. Yet the masses were only so forgiving. Murphy's career stalled in the early '90s with a series of failed and forgettable movies that were exacerbated by his poor public image.

But it wasn't too long before he was back on top. In the past decade, the notoriously lewd comedian has cleaned up his act and focused on family-oriented comedies. He has also expanded into animated features. His voice-over roles as Mushu the dragon in "Mulan" and Donkey in the "Shrek" trifecta are among his best work. After he completes all of his contractually obligated upcoming projects, he has expressed interest in returning to the stand-up circuit and leaving Tinseltown behind forever.

Murphy has become famous for playing multiple characters in his movies. His latest release, "Meet Dave," is no different. In the film, Murphy plays an alien captain exploring Earth as a human replica robot, also played by Murphy. In celebration of the movie's release, here are the best and worst of its star's multiple personalities:

The Yeah!

"Beverly Hills Cop" (1984)

Eddie catapulted to stardom in this classic fish-out-of-water comedy. He plays tough Detroit cop Axel Foley, who travels to ritzy Beverly Hills, Calif., to investigate the death of his friend. The movie laid the groundwork for the character the comedian would play for the rest of the '80s: a fast-talking outsider who's constantly at odds with his environment. This was the first and the best incarnation of this stock role. The movie received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The soundtrack went No. 1 on the Billboard charts and won a Grammy Award. Two critically reviled sequels soon followed. Even the star himself admits they weren't any good. Murphy plans to make amends with a fourth installment in 2010 that will close out the series on a high note.

"Bowfinger" (1999)

This shamefully overlooked comedy had the unfortunate timing of opening a week after "The Sixth Sense," which stole publicity from every other movie in the marketplace for months. The title character is a desperate two-bit movie director (played by Steve Martin) who needs the world's biggest movie star (played by Murphy) to appear in his film for financing. When the actor disagrees, Bowfinger decides to shoot the movie around him anyway and fill in the rest of the scenes with a nerdy look-alike stunt double (also played by Murphy). Both comedians are at the top of their game here in this decidedly adult departure from their career resurgence kiddie streaks. The scene in which Murphy crosses the freeway (the movie's production budget is too small for stunt drivers or special effects) is one of the funnier moments in recent film memory.

"Coming to America" (1988)

Murphy joined forces with Arsenio Hall for the first of his multiple character comedies. Murphy's main character is Prince Akeem, an African royal who travels to New York to find a suitable wife. All he wants is, "A woman that's going to arouse my intellect as well as my loins." Such a mate proves hard to find. The film's most enduring bit actually has nothing to do with Murphy. It's Soul Glo, the renowned Jheri curl hair product that appears throughout the movie. But Murphy and Hall get all the rest of the laughs. Their hilarious barber characters share an exchange too dirty for TV. It's worth the rental to hear the real thing. Keep your eyes peeled for Cuba Gooding Jr. in his first on-screen role during the barbershop scene.

"Dreamgirls" (2006)

Murphy had to be convinced by Jeffrey Katzenberg to accept the role of James "Thunder" Early, a charismatic soul singer who eventually falls from grace, in the movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical "Dreamgirls." Excitement and caution surrounded the initial casting announcement. Could the comedian handle such a serious role? Could he do all of his own singing? The answer was a resounding yes on both counts. The actor's performance was deeply felt, and his character's demise tragic. As a singer, he brought bold energy to new arrangements of the show's R&B-flavored songs. For the first time it didn't just feel like Eddie. The performance netted an Oscar nomination, Murphy's first. How he didn't win remains a mystery to many award show lovers. The powerful turn was probably his only chance at the gold.

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