From “Being Eddie” to changing into a lifetime achievement award recipient, Eddie Murphy is having a fantastic November.
Following the premiere of the Netflix documentary about his trailblazing profession, the American Movie Institute (AFI) Board of Trustees simply introduced on Friday, November 21, that the comic and Oscar-nominated actor will obtain the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award. It’s thought-about one in all America’s highest honors for a profession in movie. The award shall be introduced at a gala tribute on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 18, 2026.
“Eddie Murphy is an American icon,” mentioned Kathleen Kennedy, chair of the AFI Board of Trustees through assertion. “A trailblazing drive within the artwork types of movie, tv, and stand-up comedy, his versatility is aware of no bounds. Throughout 5 a long time, his enduring affect on our tradition has impressed artists and audiences alike, and AFI is proud to honor him with the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award.”
At 64 years outdated, Eddie Murphy stays probably the most commercially profitable African-American actor within the historical past of the movement image enterprise and is likely one of the business’s high 5 box-office performers total. Murphy is on the very quick listing of actors who’ve starred in a number of $100 million photos over the previous three a long time, from “Beverly Hills Cop” to “Daddy Day Care.”
Having been the face of comedy within the Nineteen Eighties, from his characters on “Saturday Evening Dwell” to his blockbuster standup specials “Uncooked” and “Delirious,” Murphy went on to be a pioneering main man with hits like “48 Hrs,” “Buying and selling Locations,” and “Coming to America.” He has additionally voiced a number of iconic animated characters in movies like “Mulan” and “Shrek.”
In 2007, Murphy acquired rave opinions for his efficiency within the film musical “Dreamgirls,” incomes him a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and a Critics Alternative Award. He has since additionally acquired a Golden Globe nomination for the Netflix movie “Dolemite Is My Identify” in 2019, and the distinguished Cecil B. DeMille Award on the Golden Globes in 2023.
The American Movie Institute is a nonprofit group with a mandate to champion the transferring picture as an artwork kind. All proceeds from its 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute Gala will assist AFI’s training and humanities initiatives.
Murphy joins 5 a long time of previous Life Achievement Award honorees, with George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Julie Andrews, Nicole Kidman, and Francis Ford Coppola being the latest recipients of the award.
