What was Eddie Murphy’s first movie as an actor?
In terms of comedy actors, few have ever reached the heights of Eddie Murphy. His films have grossed over $6.7billion worldwide, thanks to massive franchises like ‘Shrek’ and Beverly Hills Cop’, as well as one-offs like Trading Places, Harlem Nights, and The Nutty Professor. He doesn’t just make ‘em laugh either. He received an Oscar nomination for his role in Dreamgirls and won the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award at the Golden Globes for the same role.
Prior to taking over Hollywood, Murphy was a star of the stand-up and sketch comedy scenes. He helped revitalise Saturday Night Live during its first major slumps, thanks to, in his words, the only audition he ever had. Plenty of American stand-ups make the transition to movies, especially via SNL, but it doesn’t always work out. How did Murphy make it happen? Who was the first director to take a chance on this untested funnyman?
That man was Walter Hill. As well as directing cult classic The Warriors, he also produced the first ‘Alien’ movie and wrote the story for its sequel, Aliens. Hill was dating a talent agent called Hildy Gottlieb, who just so happened to represent Murphy at the time. She recommended her client for a role in his next film, a buddy cop flick called 48 Hrs. Hill agreed, and Murphy’s film career was off to the races.
48 Hrs. – which was released in 1982, when Murphy was just 21 years old – is about San Francisco police officer Jack Cates (Nick Nolte). He is chasing wanted criminal Albert Ganz (James Remar), after he murdered two of his colleagues in a hotel shootout. This is where Murphy’s character, Reggie Hammond, comes in. He is Ganz’s former partner, serving time behind bars. Cates goes to Hammond for help in tracking down his former associate, which leads the two unlikely partners to embark on a series of mishaps. Whilst this sounds like the most generic plot you’ve ever heard, 48 Hrs. was actually one of the first ‘buddy cop’ movies ever made, laying the groundwork for the likes of Bad Boys, Rush Hour, and Lethal Weapon.
Audiences clearly knew this was a winning formula. 48 Hrs. made a tidy profit at the box office and won over critics with its well-written script and the undeniable chemistry between its two leads. Both men returned for a sequel, Another 48 Hrs., in 1990, which was a critical bomb, but a runaway financial success. Murphy had had eight years to build up his name, so it’s no surprise that people were willing to fork over their hard-earned cash to see him reprise the role that started it all.
According to Fox Business, Murphy’s highest-grossing movie is Shrek 2. The site reports that the animated sequel took over $441million, although that is likely only the domestic gross for the United States. According to The Numbers, the movie took close to a billion worldwide. With the eagerly anticipated Shrek 5 just around the corner, there’s every chance that it could bring in even more cash for the voice of Donkey.
Most actors begin their careers with some straight-to-video muck that about three people saw. Not Murphy. He landed a starring role in a genre-defining classic on the very first go. Some people have all the luck.
