Actor, comedien. Born on April 3, 1961, in Brooklyn (Bushwick section), New York. Enormously successful black comedy star of American films, TV, concert tours, and recordings. Orphaned from his policeman father when he was eight, he was raised in the relative comfort suburban Hempstead, Long Island, by his mother and a stepfather. At 15, while still attending Roosevelt High School, he performed comedy routines in youth centers and local bars. After graduating, he worked the comedy-club circuit and at 19 joined the cast of NBC TV's comedy program "Saturday Night Live". Impersonating such characters as a streetwise Gumby; Velvet Jones, the pimp; Tyrone Green, the illiterate poet-convict; the canny Mr. Robinson, a Mr. Rogers takeoff; and Buckwheat of "Our Gang" fame, he soon attained great popularity. Murphy proved to be a charismatic big-screen personality as well when teamed with Nick Nolte for his film debut in 48 Hours (1982). He went on to become one of Hollywood's top money-making stars, enriching himself as well as the studios in the process before a major slump that plagued him in the 90's. He has also attracted a huge following with his recordings and live concert tours whose racially-charged comedy text is mile-a-minute and generously sprinkled with four-letter words. His first stab at directing, Harlem Nights (1989), proved disastrous. He wed in 1993.
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