Edward "Eddie" Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961, Brooklyn, New York City) is an Academy Award nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and comedian. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He has also enjoyed a minor singing career. Murphy has received Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a comedy or musical for his performances in Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of fictitious soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role. Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, including Coming to America, the Nutty Professor films, where he played much of the Klumps clan, and 2007's Norbit. Another trademark of Murphy is his deep, infectious, and considerably goofy laugh. As of May 2007, with the box office success of the films Norbit and Shrek the Third, Murphy has now surpassed the earning power of such actors as Tom Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson, with grosses as a leading man that total over $3.35 billion in North America alone.Murphy was rumored to have dated Whitney Houston before meeting his wife. He began a longtime romantic relationship with Nicole Mitchell after meeting her in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show. They lived together for a year and a half before getting married at the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 18, 1993. In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences." The divorce was finalized on April 17, 2006. A father of seven, Murphy has two sons: Miles Mitchell (born on November 7, 1992; named after jazz great Miles Davis; (mother: Nicole Mitchell) and Christian (born in 1991, mother: Tamara Moore), and four daughters (all with Nicole Mitchell): Bella Zahra (born in January 2002), Zola Ivy (born on December 24, 1999), Shane Audra (born on October 10, 1994) and Brea (born on November 18, 1989). The seventh child Angel Iris Murphy Brown (born April 3, 2007) to mother Melanie Brown.
On May 2, 1997, around 4:45am, Eddie Murphy picked up pre-op transexual prostitute Phil Weldon aka Shalimar on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. This area was to be inside a "prostitution abatement zone" designated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies pulled over Murphy's Toyota Land Cruiser, arrested his passenger for outstanding warrants, and released Murphy. The incident made tabloids and late night talk show monologues for months afterwards.
Following his divorce from Mitchell, he dated Melanie Brown, who stated that her child is Murphy's. When questioned about the pregnancy in December 2006, Murphy told a reporter, "I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir." Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, on Murphy's 46th birthday, April 3, 2007. On June 22, 2007, representatives for Brown announced in People magazine that a DNA test had confirmed that Murphy was the father, and a representative for Murphy has said Murphy "would honour his responsibilities as a father".
Murphy is now engaged to film producer Tracey Edmonds, former wife of Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds.
