Eddie! One of the most successful comic film stars of all time, Eddie Murphy’s films have grossed billions, Eddie began his stand-up career at age 15, appearing in local bars and at youth centers in his native New York City. After an appearance at The Comic Strip in NYC, Eddie landed a role as a feature player on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 1980. During his four-season tenure on the show, Murphy became noted for his accurate parodies of such icons as Bill Cosby, Mister Rogers (Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood) and the animated figure Gumby (“I’m Gumby, damnit!”) as well as his own creations like Little Richard Simmons and the oleaginous Velvet Jones. Murphy segued to feature film stardom as a wisecracking convict teamed with a world-weary cop (Nick Nolte) in the smash hit “48 Hours” (1982). Murphy has gone on to make a string of box-office successes in such movies as “Trading Places,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” the concert film “Eddie Murphy Raw, “Coming to America, “The Nutty Professor, “Dr. Dolittle,” “Shrek” and “Daddy Day Care,” among many others. Eddie Murphy remains one of Hollywood’s very biggest stars along with still being one of comedy’s most influential and creative forces.