For most performers, staying in the spotlight for a few years is a massive accomplishment. With that in mind, it is simply amazing when a star remains famous for years on end. For example, Eddie Murphy first rose to fame during the early-80s and he has remained one of the top stars in the world ever since that time.
During Eddie Murphy’s time in the spotlight, he has been at the center of some tabloid headlines that painted him in a pretty negative light. Most notably, a lot of observers were upset with how Murphy treated the Spice Girl Mel B once it was revealed she was going to have his baby. Despite any stories that have diminished Murphy in the eyes of some people, he has mostly remained remarkably bankable throughout his career.
As is the case with any actors who’ve starred in several high grossing films, over time Eddie Murphy has been able to demand big money contracts. By the time Murphy agreed to star in the Nutty Professor films, he was a big enough star that Universal Pictures had to fork over a huge amount of money to him for his work.
Breaking Through
When Eddie Murphy joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1980, the show was arguably in the midst of the worst period of its roughly 45-year history. In fact, every member of the show’s cast that season was quickly fired aside from Joe Piscopo and Murphy. Fortunately NBC and everyone involved with SNL at that time, Murphy was so incredibly funny that he almost single-handedly made the show popular again.
Once the world became acquainted with Eddie Murphy’s unique comedy genius during his time on SNL, he made the leap to the big screen with the greatest of ease. Pitch perfect in the Beverly Hills Cop movies, 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Coming to America, Murphy became a huge Hollywood star virtually overnight.
For most performers, being a TV and movie star simultaneously would be more than enough to make them very happy. In the case of Eddie Murphy, however, once he accomplished both of those things he continued to cement his comedy legacy as a standup comedy performer. Opting to release a pair of standup comedy shows on film, Eddie Murphy: Raw and Eddie Murphy Delirious were both huge hits for Eddie.
Major Star
After Eddie Murphy took the entertainment business by storm during the ‘80s, the following decade would see his career hit stumbling blocks for the first time. After all, several of Murphy’s films during the ‘90s failed to find the same level of success his previous projects had. For example, movies like Vampire in Brooklyn, Metro, Holy Man, and Life didn’t live up to expectations.
During the 2000s and 2010s, Eddie Murphy’s career has been a mixed bag of sorts. On the bright side of the ledger, Murphy played a huge role in the success of the Shrek franchise and those movies were so immensely popular that it is hard to overstate their popularity. Additionally, Murphy received lots of critical praise for his outstanding performances in Dreamgirls and Dolemite Is My Name.
Unfortunately, over the last 20 years, Eddie Murphy has starred in a slew of movies that have been roundly ridiculed by critics and audiences alike. For example, 2003’s The Haunted Mansion is widely considered to be one of the biggest box office failures of all time. On top of that misfire, Norbit, Meet Dave, Imagine That, and Tower Heist all notably missed the mark.
Massive Paycheques
Since Eddie Murphy has been famous for decades and he has 10 children with several different mothers, it makes sense that he has to pay a fortune in child support. On top of that massive expense, Murphy is used to an extremely affluent lifestyle which is epitomized by the fact that he owns a private island. Based on those facts alone, there is no way Murphy could have gotten by for so long if he hadn’t earned a huge amount of money during his career
According to celebritynetworth.com, Eddie Murphy earned his first huge payday when he got $8 million to star in 1987’s Beverly Hills Cop II. Not long after that, he was paid the same amount of money to star in Coming to America and he then nearly doubled that figure when he received $15 million for Beverly Hills Cop III. Many years later, Murphy was paid $3 million for Shrek, $17.5 million for Doctor Dolittle, $20 million from Doctor Dolittle 2, and $7.5 million from Tower Heist.
While all of those figures are truly incredible, according to celebritynetworth.com, the biggest paycheque Eddie Murphy ever earned was for a Nutty Professor film. Reportedly paid $16 million for The Nutty Professor, by any metric that figure is truly impressive. However, it reportedly pales in comparison to what Murphy made for that film’s sequel. Reportedly paid $20 million upfront for Nutty Professor II, Murphy also negotiated a deal that gave him 20% of the gross receipts. Between Murphy’s initial salary and the bonus he received due to Nutty Professor II’s box office success, he reportedly was paid $60 million combined for the film.