AFI Life Achievement Award: Eddie Murphy

July 10–September 14

Eddie Murphy has spent the entirety of his 45-plus-year career making audiences laugh. In 1980, at the tender age of 19, he joined the cast of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, revitalizing the struggling sketch show and becoming a household name in the process. Murphy soon unleashed his comic persona onto the big screen, starring in a slew of 1980s hits that include 48 HRS. (his debut), TRADING PLACES, BEVERLY HILLS COP, COMING TO AMERICA and EDDIE MURPHY RAW, the highest-grossing stand-up comedy film of all time. In later decades, Murphy would prove himself a talented children’s entertainer, notably as the voice of Mushu in MULAN and Donkey in the landmark computer-animated film SHREK. All this success has led Murphy to become one of the most commercially successful African American actors in the history of the motion-picture business and one of the industry’s top box-office performers overall. He has also received multiple accolades, including a Grammy®, an Emmy®, an Academy Award® nomination (for DREAMGIRLS), the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. In celebration of his latest achievement — becoming the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award honoree — AFI Silver pays tribute to a trailblazing force in the art form of film, television and stand-up comedy with this retrospective featuring his most hilarious and acclaimed work.

Additional titles to be announced.