La Salle, LaSalle or Lasalle may refer to:

People[link]

• Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle (1775–1809), French cavalry general during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
• Denise LaSalle (born 1939), singer
• Eriq La Salle (born 1962), actor
• Ferdinand Lassalle (1825–1864), German-Jewish jurist and socialist political activist
• Gadifer de la Salle (1340–1415), French soldier of Norman origin
• Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719), Patron saint of Teachers and Founder of Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
• Mick LaSalle (born 1959), movie critic for the San Francisco Chronicle
• Nicolas de la Salle (died 1710)
• René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687), French explorer of North America

Places[link]

Canada[link]

• La Salle, Manitoba
• LaSalle, Ontario
• LaSalle, Quebec, borough of Montreal
• LaSalle—Émard, federal electoral district in Quebec
• Lasalle (electoral district), former electoral district in Quebec

France[link]

• Lasalle, Gard
• La Salle, Saône-et-Loire
• La Salle, Vosges
• La Salle-de-Vihiers, in the Maine-et-Loire department
• La Salle-en-Beaumont, in the Isère department
• La Salle-et-Chapelle-Aubry, in the Maine-et-Loire department
• La Salle-les-Alpes, in the Hautes-Alpes department
• La Salle-Prunet, in the Lozère department

Italy[link]

• La Salle, Aosta Valley

United States[link]

• La Salle, Colorado
• LaSalle, Illinois
• La Salle, Minnesota
• La Salle, Texas (disambiguation), multiple locations
  • La Salle, Calhoun County, Texas
  • La Salle, Jackson County, Texas
  • La Salle, La Salle County, Texas
  • LaSalle, Limestone County, Texas
• LaSalle County, Illinois
• La Salle County, Texas
• La Salle Parish, Louisiana
• LaSalle Park, Missouri, a neighborhood in St. Louis
• LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois
• La Salle Township, Michigan

CTA stations[link]

• LaSalle (CTA Blue Line station), on the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line
• LaSalle/Van Buren (CTA station), on the CTA's Brown, Purple, Pink, and Orange Lines in the Loop

Education[link]

La Salle is the name of several educational institutions affiliated with the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, also known as the Lasallian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by French priest Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle:

• De La Salle Araneta University, in Malabon City, Philippines
• De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines
• De La Salle University – Dasmariñas, in Cavite, Philippines
• La Salle Academy in Manhattan, New York, USA
• La Salle Academy, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
• La Salle College in Hong Kong
• La Salle High School Multan in Multan, Pakistan
• La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• University of St. La Salle in Bacolod, Philippines
• Other La Sallian educational institutions, De La Salle Supervised Schools, De La Salle Philippines

La Salle may also refer to:

• LASALLE College of the Arts, an arts institution in Singapore founded by De La Salle Brother, Br. Joseph McNally FSC
• La Salle Extension University, a former correspondence school based in the Chicago, Illinois area
• LaSalle University (Louisiana), one of the James Kirk diploma mills

Other[link]

• Asociación de Ex-Alumnos del Colegio de La Salle, an Argentine rugby union team
• LaSalle (Amtrak), a Chicago-Milwaukee train operated by Amtrak
• Lasalle & Koch, sometimes called Lasalle's, a defunct department store in Toledo, Ohio
• LaSalle (automobile)
• LaSalle (Montreal Metro)
• LaSalle Bank
• La Salle Expeditions, expeditions of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
• La Salle Explorers, the athletic program of La Salle University in Philadelphia
• LaSalle Hotel, a historic landmark in Bryan, Texas
• LaSalle Expressway, an expressway in Niagara Falls, New York, United States
• LaSalle Records, a division of Atlantic Records
• Jones Lang LaSalle, a financial and professional services company specializing in real estate
• Krasovskii–LaSalle principle, a concept in theory of differential equations, with applications in control theory
• USS La Salle (AGF-3)
• USS La Salle (AP-102)
• LaSalle (band), an American alternative rock band
• LaSalle Aircraft Company, short lived aircraft manufacturer in Joliet, Illinois, founded by Claude C. Flagg

See also[link]

• De La Salle (disambiguation)
• De La Salle College (disambiguation)
• De La Salle High School (disambiguation)
• La Salle High School (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Noah Wyle
Wyle at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (1971-06-04) June 4, 1971 (age 41) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Tracy Warbin (2000–present; separated; 2 children)

Noah Strausser Speer Wyle ( /ˈwaɪli/; born June 4, 1971) is an American film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his roles as Dr. John Truman Carter III in ER and as Tom Mason in Falling Skies. He has also played Steve Jobs in the 1999 docudrama Pirates of Silicon Valley and Flynn Carsen in The Librarian franchise. Wyle was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People magazine in 2001.

Early life[link]

Wyle, the middle of three children, was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Marjorie (née Speer), a registered orthopedic head nurse, and Stephen Wyle, an electrical engineer and entrepreneur.^[1] His father was Jewish and his mother Episcopalian, and he was raised "fairly nondenominationally".^[2][3] Wyle's parents divorced in the late 1970s and his mother later married James C. Katz, a film restorationist^[4] with three children of his own from a previous marriage. Wyle's paternal grandparents, Edith and Frank Wyle, founded the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum. Edith Wyle was an expressionist painter who also created The Egg and The Eye, an innovative café and shop on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles, which soon became the preferred hangout for artists, travelers and dreamers.^[5]

Education[link]

Wyle was educated at The Thacher School in Ojai, California, and graduated with the class of 1989. Wyle participated in a theater arts program at Northwestern University after his junior year of high school and appeared in high school plays, even winning an award for a play he wrote. After graduation, he studied with acting teacher Larry Moss while living in a small apartment on Hollywood Boulevard.

Career[link]

Film[link]

Wyle was first seen in the Paul Bartel film Lust in the Dust (a western exploitation/parody which starred Tab Hunter, Lainie Kazan and Divine) as an extra in the local gang running the small town of Chile' Verde.

His later parts were a mini-series and featuring in the movie Crooked Hearts (1991) in 1990. In 1993 he worked in another feature, There Goes My Baby. After appearing in several local plays in Los Angeles, he was cast in the box-office hit A Few Good Men, in which he played a Marine jeep driver who testified in court. He also appeared in the feature Swing Kids as a leader in the Hitler Youth, and in the independent movie The Myth of Fingerprints with Roy Scheider, Blythe Danner and Julianne Moore. Additionally, he starred as Lancelot opposite Sheryl Lee in the Television movie Guinevere. Recently, Wyle starred in the original film, The Librarian: Quest for the Spear with Sonya Walger and in its sequel The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines opposite Gabrielle Anwar and in the third part of the series The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice alongside Stana Katic. His other work has included a critically acclaimed turn as Steve Jobs in the Emmy nominated Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999). He has also appeared in several feature films including: White Oleander opposite Renée Zellweger, Enough opposite Jennifer Lopez, the independent feature Donnie Darko, as the President's interpreter in the 2000 live-television production of Fail Safe, and in the independent film, The Californians.

[edit] ER

Wyle’s big break came when he was given the pilot script for ER and was cast as medical student John Carter. Wyle was the only major cast member of ER to have been with the show since its inception (1994) when he left after its eleventh season (2005). His performances on the show earned him Emmy Award nominations in each of its first five seasons. As part of an ensemble he was nominated several times for the Screen Actors Guild Award, he was recognized with three Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television and won the 2001 TV Guide Award for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Wyle left the series at the end of the eleventh season, although he returned in guest appearances for a four-episode arc during the twelfth season. He stated that he left because he wanted to spend more time with his family and friends and to make room for the upcoming generation.^{[citation needed]} However, in 2009, Wyle returned to ER during its fifteenth and final season for five episodes, including the series finale. According to the Guinness World Records 2005 Special 50th Anniversary Edition, Wyle became the holder of a "Highest paid TV drama actor per episode" record during the 2003-2004 tenth season, earning approximately $400,000 per episode. While on ER, Wyle's estimated salary was $9 million a year^{[citation needed]}. Wyle has also appeared in the most episodes of ER, 255, four more than Laura Innes.*^[6]

Stage[link]

Along with his film and television career, Wyle has also appeared on stage appearing in a 1995 Los Angeles stage production of The 24th Day with Peter Berg. With The Blank Theatre Company, he performed in The Who, and more recently in Lobster Alice, with Nicholas Brendon, where he played the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. For his work as one of the producers of The Wild Party at the Blank Theare, he won an NAACP Theatre Award.^[7] Wyle has also produced Missouri Waltz at the theatre.

[edit] Falling Skies

Wyle is the lead in TNT's new sci-fi series from Steven Spielberg titled Falling Skies. Wyle plays Tom Mason, a former Boston University history professor, becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment, a group of civilians and fighters fleeing post-apocalyptic Boston.^[8] He is also the father of three boys, one of whom is captured by the aliens, referred to as "skitters", named Ben. The two-hour premiere of Falling Skies was watched by 5.9 million viewers, making it cable television's biggest series launch of the year, with more than 2.6 million adults 18–49 and 3.2 million adults 25–54.^[9] The series was renewed on July 7, 2011, for a second season of 10 episodes scheduled to air in summer 2012.^[10]

The first season of Falling Skies tied with the FX series American Horror Story as the biggest new cable series of the year among adults 18-49.^[11]

BuddyTV ranked him #91 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011".^[12]

Personal life[link]

Wyle in 2009

Wyle dated several women, including actress Samantha Mathis. While filming The Myth of Fingerprints in 1996, he met make-up artist Tracy Warbin. After proposing to her on Valentine's Day in 1999, they married on May 6, 2000. Together, they have a son, Owen Strausser Speer Wyle (born November 9, 2002), and a daughter, Auden Wyle (born October 15, 2005). Warbin's pregnancy with Auden was announced on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Wyle bought Bo Derek's ranch in Santa Ynez Valley, California, in June 1999, for approximately $2.5 million. They listed their Los Feliz (Los Angeles) home at close to $4.4 million. The traditional-style house was designed by architect Paul Williams, was built in 1934 and has a theater, a detached guest house-office and a landscaped yard with city views, a pool, a koi pond, a patio and a fire pit.

Wyle and Warbin, his wife of almost ten years, separated in late October 2009, according to People magazine. The couple live in separate residences, and both see their two children daily.^[13]

Appearances, interests, and philanthrophy[link]

In 1999, Wyle made an appearance during the beginning of Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo keynote presentation, initially pretending to be Jobs. When the audience caught on, Jobs himself appeared and began to banter with Wyle.^[14][15] It was a practical joke by Jobs and Wyle in light of the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley.

Wyle devotes much of his free time to the international non-profit organization Doctors of the World and to his work as a member of the Human Rights Watch Council. Wyle also serves as the voluntary artistic producer of the Blank Theatre Company in Hollywood, which stages annual young playwrights festival and whose alumni include Ed Asner, Sarah Michelle Gellar, D. B. Sweeney, James Kerwin, Amber Benson, Megan Henning, Travis Schuldt, Warren Davis, Grant Show, and Nicholas Brendon. He also recently acquired Second Stage Theater (Los Angeles) in Hollywood, where the company has mounted numerous successful productions.

Wyle was the spokesperson for The Cover the Uninsured campaign in 2004, which had as Honorary Co-Chairs former Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter. The Cover the Uninsured Week is annually held in the United States of America and focuses attention on the nearly 44 million Americans who go without health care coverage. The campaign includes several events among different communities, health and enrollment fairs, press conferences and business seminars all over the U.S. Additionally, Wyle is also a vegetarian and a supporter of animal rights, having started a farm intended as sanctuary for abused and rescued animals. Wyle has also become a spokesman for the World Wildlife Fund, dedicated to protecting and conserving wildlife for future generations.^[16]

In 2009, Wyle became a spokesperson for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), claiming that polar bears are "hanging on by a thread" and "may be extinct in our children's lifetime, due to the effects of climate change."^[17]

In 2012, Wyle did work to support the disability rights group ADAPT.^[18] On April 23, he was arrested during a protest in Capitol Hill to fight against Medicaid-cuts for the elderly and people with disabilities.^[19]

Film and television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Noah Wyle

• Noah Wyle at the Internet Movie Database

Eriq La Salle
La Salle at the 1995 Emmy Awards
Born	Erik Ki La Salle (1962-07-23) July 23, 1962 (age 49) Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	New York University (BFA '84)
Occupation	Actor/Director
Years active	1985–present

Eriq La Salle (born Erik Ki La Salle, July 23, 1962) is an American actor and director, known for his portrayals of Darryl in the 1988 comedy film Coming to America and Dr. Peter Benton on the NBC drama series ER.

Early life and education[link]

La Salle, one of four children, was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut by his mother, Ada Haynes.^[1] He is an alumnus of the Artists Collective, Inc. in Hartford. He attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division as a member of Group 13 (1980–1984)^[2] for two years, then moved to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree^[3] in 1984.^[4][5]

Career[link]

At the time of his graduation from NYU, La Salle was cast in the first of several productions for Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park theater company.^[3] Soon after, he found continuous acting work on Broadway, off-Broadway and in the daytime TV drama One Life to Live as reporter Mike Rivers.

In 1988, La Salle starred in Eddie Murphy's breakthrough movie Coming to America. He played Lisa's "slick" and obnoxious boyfriend Darryl with an even slicker "Soul Glo" haircut.

In 1994 the medical drama ER premiered on NBC with La Salle starring as Dr. Peter Benton. He held the role until leaving during the eighth season. In 2009, he returned to ER for two episodes (including the series finale) during its 15th and final season. He also returned to direct one episode.^[6] He had a supporting role as Detective Anderson in the 1994 murder mystery thriller Color of Night.

In 1996, La Salle directed and acted in the HBO made-for-TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault, starring Don Cheadle. After ER, La Salle had relatively small roles in movies such as One Hour Photo and also directed for Soul Food: The Series on Showtime.

He played a Jamaican gangster in the independent film Johnny Was^[7] opposite Vinnie Jones, Samantha Mumba, Lennox Lewis, and Roger Daltrey. La Salle lived in Belfast, for four weeks while filming the movie, which he supported at the North American premiere of the film in 2006, at the American Black Film Festival in Miami.

La Salle directed and starred in the movie Crazy As Hell. He has directed two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.^[8]

After a fairly extensive absence from acting, he starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie, Relative Stranger, which premiered on March 14, 2009. Also in the movie were La Salle's former ER castmates Michael Michele (Dr. Cleo Finch) and Michael Beach (Al Boulet).

In 2010 La Salle played the United Nations Secretary General in the series finale of 24. He guest-starred in an episode of Covert Affairs in August 2010.

In 2011, he played the psychiatrist E-Mo in A Gifted Man, and also appeared in some episodes of HBO's How to Make it In America (as a Caribbean community leader who rallied against the product Rasta Monsta).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Eriq La Salle at the Internet Movie Database

Michael Anthony Beach (born October 30, 1963) is an American actor.

Biography[link]

Beach was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, of Cape Verdean descent. He attended the prestigious Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts on scholarship from ABC (A Better Chance). He was introduced to acting when he was sidelined by a lacrosse injury during high school by a classmate. After high school he went on to graduate from New York City's Juilliard School, and performed in many off-Broadway and regional theater plays before starring in Los Angeles theater productions of Ascension Day and Much Ado About Nothing, and eventually breaking into film and television.

Career[link]

He is perhaps best known for portraying FDNY paramedic Monte 'Doc' Parker on the NBC drama Third Watch, and for his recurring role as Al Boulet, the ex-husband of physician assistant Jeanie Boulet on the NBC medical drama ER. More recently, he has been known for his recurring role as Colonel Ellis in Stargate Atlantis.

A divorced father of four, Beach resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Elisha Wilson-Beach.

Filmography[link]

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010)

• Suspect (1987)
• Open Admissions (1988) (TV)
• The Abyss (1989)
• Lean on Me (1989)
• Cadence (1990)
• Internal Affairs (1990)
• One False Move (1992)
• Short Cuts (1993)
• True Romance (1993)
• Knight Rider 2010 (1994) (TV)
• South Central (1994) (TV)
• Waiting to Exhale (1995)
• Bad Company (1995)
• ER (1995) (TV)
• Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault (1996)
• A Family Thing (1996)
• Soul Food (1997)
• Ruby Bridges (film) (1998)
• Asunder (Michael Hubbs) (1998)
• Made Men (James Belushi)(film) (1999)
• Third Watch (1999) (TV)
• Crazy as Hell (2002))
• Brothers & Sisters (2006) (TV)
• Justice League Unlimited (2006) (TV)
• Like Mike 2: Streetball (2006)
• The Condemned (2007)
• Stargate Atlantis (2007–2008) (TV)
• Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008) (cameo) (DVD movie)
• First Sunday (2008)
• Hell Ride - (2008) Goody Two Shoes
• Lie to Me - (2010)
• The Game - (2011) (TV)
• Red Dawn - (2012) Mayor Jenkins

External links[link]

• Michael Beach at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Beach at AllRovi

This article about a United States film and television actor or actress born in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Eddie Murphy
Murphy at the Tribeca Film Festival for Shrek Forever After in 2010.
Birth name	Edward Regan Murphy
Born	(1961-04-03) April 3, 1961 (age 51) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Medium	Film, television, stand-up, music, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1976–present
Genres	Observational comedy, musical comedy, black comedy, satire, physical comedy, Dance Pop
Subject(s)	African American culture, race relations, racism, marriage, everyday life, current events, pop culture, human sexuality
Influences	Bill Cosby,[1] Richard Pryor,[1] Peter Sellers, Redd Foxx[1] Robin Williams,[1]
Spouse	Nicole Mitchell (1993–2006) (divorced) 5 children Tracey Edmonds (2008) (unofficial)
Domestic partner(s)	Melanie Brown (2006–07) 1 child
Notable works and roles	Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop Various on Saturday Night Live Shrek series

Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician.

Box office takes from Murphy's films make him the second-highest grossing actor in the United States.^[2][3] He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He was ranked #10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.^[4]

He has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs, Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls.^[5]

Eddie Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and elsewhere. Murphy has played multiple roles in Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire In Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he played the title role in two incarnations, plus his father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, Norbit, and Meet Dave.

Early life[link]

Murphy grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick.^[6] His mother, Lillian, was a telephone operator, and his father, Charles Edward Murphy, was a transit police officer and an amateur actor and comedian.^[1][7][8][9] His father died when he was young. When Murphy's single mom became ill, the eight-year-old Eddie Murphy and his older brother lived in foster care for one year.^[10] In interviews, the actor and comedian says that his time in foster care was influential in developing his sense of humour. Later Murphy and his older brother Charlie were raised in Roosevelt, New York by his mother and stepfather Vernon Lynch, a foreman at an ice cream plant.^[1] Around the age of 15, Murphy was writing and performing his own routines, which were heavily influenced by Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.^[1]

Career[link]

Stand-up comedy[link]

Murphy performed stand-up at the same Bay Area Comedy Club as Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg. His early comedy was characterized by frequent swearing and sketches lampooning a diverse group of people (including WASPs, African Americans, Italian Americans, overweight people, and gay people). This racy content was akin to that of Richard Pryor, whom Murphy has credited as his inspiration to enter comedy;^[1] however, in his autobiography, Pryor Convictions, Pryor wrote that he found Murphy's comedy at times excessively insensitive. Murphy later apologized for insensitive jokes about gay people and HIV. The stand-up shows Delirious and Raw have been recorded and released.

1980s acting career[link]

Murphy in 1988

Murphy first earned attention as a regular actor at Saturday Night Live, and was credited with helping revitalize the series during its first true slump in quality in the early 1980s.^[11] Some of his notable characters included a grown version of the Little Rascals character Buckwheat,^[12] impoverished but street-wise children's show host Mr. Robinson (a spoof of Fred Rogers, who found it amusing),^[13] and Gumby,^[12] a harshly cynical version of the animated character; Murphy's take on the latter character spawned one of SNL's many catchphrases, "I'm Gumby, dammit!" Although Buckwheat was his most popular character, Murphy asked that he be retired because the actor grew tired of people asking him to "Do Buckwheat! Do Buckwheat!"; the character was assassinated on camera in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza.^[14]

In 1982, Murphy made his big screen debut in the film 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte.^[1] 48 Hrs. proved to be a hit when it was released in the Christmas season of 1982. Nolte was scheduled to host the December 11, 1982 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live, but became too ill to host, so Murphy took over. He became the only cast member to host while still a regular. Murphy opened the show with the phrase, "Live from New York, It's the Eddie Murphy Show!" The following year, Murphy starred in Trading Places with fellow SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd.^[1] The movie marked the first of Murphy's collaborations with director John Landis (who also directed Murphy in Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop III) and proved to be an even greater box office success than 48 Hrs. In 1984, Murphy starred in the successful action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop.^[1] The film was Murphy's first full-fledged starring vehicle, originally intended to star Sylvester Stallone (who later tweaked the script as his own starring vehicle Cobra in 1986).^[1] Beverly Hills Cop grossed over $230 million at the box office and is 40th in the list of all-time total U.S. box office grosses (4th-highest amongst "R" rated films), after adjusting for inflation, as of March 2011^[update].^[15]

In 1984, Murphy appeared in Best Defense, co-starring Dudley Moore. Murphy, who was credited as a "Strategic Guest Star", was added to the film after an original version was completed but tested poorly with audiences. Best Defense was a major financial and critical disappointment. When he hosted SNL, Murphy joined the chorus of those bashing Best Defense, calling it "the worst movie in the history of everything". Murphy's Trading Places co-star Dan Aykroyd had originally written the character of Winston Zeddemore in Ghostbusters specifically for Murphy, but he was unable to commit at the time due to the Beverly Hills Cop shooting schedule. The part ultimately went to Ernie Hudson. Murphy was also offered a part in 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a role that, after being heavily re-written from comic relief to love interest, ultimately went to future 7th Heaven star Catherine Hicks. By this point^[16] Murphy's near-exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures rivaled Star Trek as Paramount's most lucrative franchise.

In 1986, Murphy starred in the supernatural comedy, The Golden Child.^[1] The Golden Child was originally intended to be a serious adventure picture starring Mel Gibson. After Gibson turned the role down, the project was offered to Murphy as it was subsequently rewritten as a partial comedy. Although The Golden Child (featuring Murphy's "I want the knife!" routine) performed well at the box office, the movie was not as critically acclaimed as 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop. The Golden Child was considered a change of pace for Murphy because of the supernatural setting as opposed to the more "street smart" settings of Murphy's previous efforts. A year later, Murphy reprised his role of Axel Foley in the Tony Scott-directed Beverly Hills Cop II. It was a box office success, grossing over $150 million. Producers reportedly wanted to turn the Beverly Hills Cop franchise into a weekly television series. Murphy declined the television offer, but was willing to do a film sequel instead.

Murphy was one of the last movie actors to sign an exclusive contract with a studio. In this case, it was Paramount Pictures, which released all of his early films.

Singing career[link]

Murphy is also a singer and musician, having frequently provided background vocals to songs released by The Bus Boys, which their song "The Boys Are Back in Town" was featured in 48 Hrs. and Murphy's comedy special Eddie Murphy Delirious. As a solo artist, Murphy had two hit singles, "Party All the Time" (which was produced by Rick James) and "Put Your Mouth on Me" in the mid-1980s (although he actually started singing earlier in his career, with the songs "Boogie In Your Butt" and "Enough Is Enough", the latter being a parody of Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer's 1979 song, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)". They both appear on his 1982 self-titled comedy album.) "Party All the Time" was featured on Murphy's 1985 debut album How Could It Be, which included a minor follow-up R&B hit in the title track, a duet with vocalist Crystal Blake. This track was written by Rusty Hamilton and was produced by Stevie Wonder's cousin Aquil Fudge after a brief falling out and bet with Rick James. In 2004, VH-1 and Blender voted "Party All the Time" number seven among the "50 Worst Songs of All-Time." Sharam used a sample of the song for the UK #8 hit "PATT (Party All The Time)" in 2006.

Murphy recorded the album Love's Alright in the early 1990s. He performed in a music video of the single "Whatzupwitu", featuring Michael Jackson. He recorded a duet with Shabba Ranks called "I Was a King". In 1992, Murphy appeared in Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" alongside Magic Johnson and Iman.

Though uncredited, Murphy provided vocal work on SNL castmate Joe Piscopo's comedy single, "The Honeymooners Rap."^{[citation needed]} Piscopo impersonated Jackie Gleason on the single, while Murphy provided an imitation of Art Carney.

In Coming to America, he imitated Jackie Wilson when he sang "To Be Loved", but because the character he was playing had a thick accent, he had to sing it in character. In later years, Murphy performed several songs in the Shrek film franchise. In the first film, he performed a version of "I'm a Believer" in the film's final scene; in Shrek 2 he performed Ricky Martin's hit "Livin' La Vida Loca" along with co-star Antonio Banderas.

Murphy's all-time favorite singer is Elvis Presley.

Early 1990s career[link]

From 1989 until the mid 1990s, box office results and reviews for Murphy's films dropped, hitting a low point with the critically panned Beverly Hills Cop III (1994),^[17] a movie Murphy would ultimately denounce during an appearance on Inside the Actors Studio,^[1] although he did find box office success with Boomerang and Another 48 Hrs. Harlem Nights featured Murphy, who had previously been known only as a performer, as director, producer, star, and co-writer, with his brother, Charlie Murphy, as well as supporting roles for Murphy's comic idols Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor.^[1]

During this period Murphy was criticized by filmmaker Spike Lee for not using his show business stature to help black actors break into film, despite Murphy's films (especially those he produced) often being populated with predominantly black casts (Coming To America, Harlem Nights, Boomerang, Vampire In Brooklyn, Life). Many black actors who would later gain wider recognition make early appearances in Murphy films such as Damon Wayans in Beverly Hills Cop, Halle Berry and Martin Lawrence in Boomerang, Samuel L. Jackson and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Coming to America, Dave Chappelle in The Nutty Professor and Chris Rock in Beverly Hills Cop II.

Although Murphy has enjoyed commercial success since Saturday Night Live, he has never attended cast reunions or anniversary specials, nor did he participate in the making of the Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live retrospective book by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller (2002).

Comeback and image makeover[link]

Murphy's box office results began to recover in 1996, starting with The Nutty Professor. He followed with a series of very successful family-friendly movies like Mulan, Dr. Dolittle and its sequel, the Shrek series, Daddy Day Care, and The Haunted Mansion, along with Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. However, most of his movies meant for more adult audiences performed moderately; Metro, I Spy, and Showtime all ended to gross less than $40 million domestically, Holy Man performed poorly, grossing less than $13 million, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash is on record as one of the biggest theatrical money-losers of all time, grossing just $7 million worldwide on a reported $110 million budget. A notable exception to this run of poorly received adult-themed films was the Frank Oz comedy Bowfinger, also starring Steve Martin. The film garnered generally positive critical reviews, and grossed $98 million at the box office.

In 2006, he starred in the motion picture version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls as soul singer James "Thunder" Early. Murphy won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in that category. Several reviews for the film highlighted Murphy's performance while he received some pre-release Academy Awards buzz.^[18] Murphy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on January 23, 2007, but lost to Alan Arkin for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine. Dreamgirls was the first film distributed by Paramount Pictures to star Murphy (who once was on an exclusive contract with the studio) since Vampire in Brooklyn in 1995.

In 2007, Murphy was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[19] As a result of Viacom's acquisition of Dreamworks SKG, Paramount distributed his other 2007 releases: Norbit and Shrek the Third. He starred in the 2008 film Meet Dave and the 2009 film Imagine That for Paramount Pictures.

Murphy co-starred in Tower Heist, directed by Brett Ratner. Murphy played a thief who joins a group of hardworking men who find out they have fallen victim to a wealthy businessman's Ponzi scheme, and conspire to rob his high-rise residence. Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, and Casey Affleck also starred in the film, released on November 4, 2011.^[1][20][21]

It was reported in late 2011 that Murphy would host the 84th Academy Awards in 2012. However, he dropped out of his hosting duties on November 9, 2011, in the wake of the Brett Ratner scandal.^[22]

Personal life[link]

Family[link]

Eddie Murphy in Hollywood Walk of Fame

Murphy began a longtime romantic relationship with Nicole Mitchell (born January 5, 1968) after meeting her in 1988 at an NAACP Image Awards show. They lived together for almost two years before getting married at the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 18, 1993.^[23] Murphy and Mitchell had five children together: Bria L. Murphy (born November 18, 1989), Myles Mitchell (born November 7, 1992), Shayne Audra (born October 10, 1994), Zola Ivy (born December 24, 1999) and Bella Zahra (born January 29, 2002). In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". The divorce was finalized on April 17, 2006.^[24]

He also has a child by Tamara Hood: son Christian Murphy (born on 29 November 1990).^[25]

Murphy as of 2008 resided in Long Island, New York.^[26]

Following his divorce from Mitchell, in 2006, Murphy began dating former Spice Girl Melanie Brown, who became pregnant and stated that the child was Murphy's. When questioned about the pregnancy in December 2006 by RTL Boulevard, Murphy told Dutch reporter Matthijs Kleyn, "I don't know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir". Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, on Murphy's 46th birthday, April 3, 2007. On June 22, 2007, representatives for Brown announced in People that a DNA test had confirmed that Murphy was the father.^[27] Brown has stated in an interview that Murphy has not sought a relationship with Angel.^[28][29]

Murphy exchanged marriage vows with film producer Tracey Edmonds, former wife of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, on January 1, 2008, in a private ceremony on an island off Bora Bora.^[30] On January 16, the couple released a statement saying, "After much consideration and discussion, we have jointly decided that we will forego having a legal ceremony as it is not necessary to define our relationship further," and called the Bora Bora wedding a "symbolic union". The two had planned on having a legal ceremony upon their return to the U.S. but did not, and their wedding was never official.^[31]

Legal problems[link]

According to Murphy's childhood friend Harris Haith in his book, Growing Up Laughing With Eddie, long before Murphy did any writing for Coming to America, Art Buchwald had approached Paramount Pictures with the idea for a similar film. His material was rejected, but the information was retained by Paramount. They liked Buchwald's idea but did not see fit to pay him and saved it for use later down the road. Some years later, Paramount presented the idea of Coming to America to Eddie and gave him the contract. Murphy wrote a screenplay that came to light exactly as it aired on the silver screen. In 1988, Buchwald sued Murphy and Paramount Pictures, but Murphy was not found liable because Paramount had received the material.

Philanthropy[link]

Murphy has donated money to the AIDS Foundation, and cancer, education, creative arts, family/parent support, health and homeless charities. He has donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, various cancer charities and $100,000 to the Screen Actors' Guild's strike relief fund.^[32]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

Awards/nominations[link]

References[link]