Look up Eddie, Eddy, or eddy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Eddie or Eddy may refer to:

• Eddy (surname), used by descendants of a number of English, Irish and Scottish families
• Eddie (given name)
• Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle

In music[link]

• Eddie from Ohio, an American folk band
• Eddie the Head, the mascot for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden

Other[link]

• "The Eddie" - the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau, a surfing tournament
• Eddy current, a phenomenon caused by a moving magnetic field intersecting a conductor or vice-versa
• Eddie (film), a 1996 movie about basketball starring Whoopi Goldberg
  • Eddie (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1996 film, Eddie
• Eddie (Louie), a 2011 episode of the show Louie
• Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Linux and Mac OS X
• Eddy covariance, a statistical method used in meteorology
• Eddie, an American Cinema Editors award for best editing
• Eddie (shipboard computer), in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Eddy (Ed, Edd n Eddy), a character on Ed, Edd n Eddy
• Eddie (crater), a crater on of Mars

See also[link]

• Ed (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.

Eddie Izzard
Izzard performing at the Garrick Theatre, 2 December 2008
Birth name	Edward John Izzard[1]
Born	(1962-02-07) 7 February 1962 (age 50) Colony of Aden, Aden Protectorate (now Aden, Yemen)[2]
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Nationality	British
Years active	1982–present
Genres	Surreal humour, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy.
Subject(s)	History, Celebrities, Religion, Culture, Sex
Influences	Monty Python,[3][4] Billy Connolly,[5] Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks,[5] Steve Martin,[4] Spike Milligan, Jerry Sadowitz.[4]
Influenced	Hal Sparks, Harry Hill, Rhod Gilbert[6]
Notable works and roles	Live at the Ambassadors Unrepeatable Definite Article Dress to Kill Glorious Circle Lenny Bruce in Lenny Wayne Malloy/Doug Rich in The Riches Roman Nagel in Ocean's Thirteen Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie Mr. Kite in Across the Universe
Website	eddieizzard.com
Emmy Awards
Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program 2000 Dress to Kill Writing In A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program 2000 Dress to Kill
British Comedy Awards
Top Stand-up 1993 Live at the Ambassadors Best Stand-up 1996 Definite Article

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard^[1] (born 7 February 1962) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime. He had a starring role in the television series The Riches as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Mystery Men, Shadow of the Vampire, The Cat's Meow, Across the Universe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Valkyrie. He is also the voice of Nigel in the 2006 animated film The Wild and Miles Axlerod in the 2011 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars 2.

He has cited his main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to him as the "Lost Python".^[3] In 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long distance running.^[7] He is also known for his transvestism. He has won numerous awards including a Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for his comedy special Dress to Kill, in 2000. Izzard's web site won the Yahoo People's Choice Award^[8] and earned the Webby Award.^[9]

Early life[link]

Izzard was born in Aden, Yemen, then the Colony of Aden in the Aden Protectorate.^[2] He was the younger son of British parents Dorothy Ella, a midwife and nurse, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant who was working in Aden with British Petroleum.^[10][11] A year after his birth, the family moved to Bangor in Northern Ireland and lived there until he was five.^{[1][2][3][10]} The family then moved to Skewen in south west Wales (near Swansea) where his mother died of cancer when Eddie was six and his brother Mark was eight.^[1][11][12] Following his mother's death, Izzard attended boarding schools:^[1][11] St John's School in Porthcawl,^[4] St. Bede's Preparatory School, Eastbourne,^{[citation needed]} and Eastbourne College^{[citation needed]}.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Izzard began to toy with comedy at the University of Sheffield with student friend Rob Ballard.^[5][13] After leaving his accountancy degree course, he and Ballard took their act to the streets,^[5][13] often in Covent Garden.^[4][14][15] After his split with Ballard, Izzard spent a great deal of the early 1980s working as a street performer in Europe and the United States. He then moved his act into the stand-up comedy venues of Britain. His first gig was at the Banana Cabaret in Balham, London.^[1][16] In 1987, he made his first stage appearance at The Comedy Store, London.^[3] In 1989, he met actress Sarah Townsend who was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival.^[17] He refined his material throughout the 1980s, and in the early 1990s he finally began earning some measure of recognition through his improvisation, in part at his own club "Raging Bull" in Soho.^[15]

Success as a comedian[link]

In 1991, Izzard got a spot on the Fry and Laurie produced AIDS benefit Hysteria 3, where he did his "Wolves" sketch, which broke him into the mainstream comedy circuit and television. His resultant stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for Live at the Ambassadors), a part in "Filth" which was a stand up presentation by left-wing sympathetic comedians in aid of raising money for the Terrence Higgins Trust in 1994, and 1996 (for Definite Article).

In 1996, he got a part in his first United States-produced film, The Secret Agent, where he met and befriended Robin Williams. Williams already knew of Izzard's act, and discussed bringing his act to the United States. As a result, Izzard took Definite Article on a successful stint in New York City in the same year, and as a support act to Williams took Dress to Kill to San Francisco in 1998 (the footage from which forms the performance on the Dress To Kill DVD). His US breakthrough came in 1999, when Dress to Kill was shown on the American television channel HBO, about a year or so after he performed the show on tour in the US, UK and France. Suddenly, America was aware of Izzard, and the show went on to earn him two Emmy Awards in 2000 (for performance and writing).

In 1999, after complaints that his act recycled jokes appearing on his DVDs, the BBC's consumer programme Watchdog investigated Izzard's live act. Izzard explained that like most comedy performers, he used some of his most successful routines in each show. Nonetheless, Izzard was issued a warning by the Department of Trade and Industry. Much of the problem was caused by the recording and selling of the American leg of his tour on DVD in the UK for the Christmas market before the UK leg of the tour took place. Izzard was greatly upset by early reactions to his UK shows, and the investigation, as he was initially unaware of the show's core material having already been seen. He commented on this debacle in later performances and furiously started to write new tangential material hoping to satisfy audiences. This also led to DVD releases of first the US tour show and later the altered UK version with new and evolved material. Since then, Izzard has rarely performed his stand-up act on television, saying that it uses up material at too high a rate, whereas stage material can be continually re-used in front of different audiences for several months.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Izzard used his rambling style to provide the voice-over for the British government's television advertisements promoting recycling. The tagline of the ads was "Recycle. The possibilities are endless!" Izzard also performed on stage with Scottish musician Midge Ure at Live8 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He played the piano on the song "Vienna".

In January 2006, the US television network FX announced the production of a new drama series called The Riches (formerly Low Life). Izzard and British actress Minnie Driver star as a married couple, Wayne and Dahlia Malloy, who have been part of a caravan of con-artist Irish travellers swindling their way across the US with their children. After finding another family killed in a car accident, the Malloys assume their identities and start a new life as law-abiding suburbanites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The youngest son has shown a preference for wearing girls' clothing, leading to some speculation that the role was based upon Izzard's experiences. Izzard has stated in several interviews that the character of Sam had been given transvestite tendencies long before he was cast as Wayne Malloy, but he has contributed his perspective to keep the character believable.

Theatrical, TV and film appearances[link]

In 1994, Izzard made his West End drama debut as the lead in the world premiere of David Mamet's The Cryptogram with Lindsay Duncan, in the production at London's Comedy Theatre. The success of that role led to his second starring role in David Beaird's black comedy 900 Oneonta. In 1995, he portrayed the title character in Christopher Marlowe's Edward II.

In 1998 Izzard appeared briefly on stage with the Monty Python team in The American Film Institute's Tribute to Monty Python (also referred to as Monty Python Live at Aspen). He walked on stage with the five surviving Pythons and he was summarily escorted off by Eric Idle and Michael Palin as he attempted to participate in a discussion about how the group got together.

Izzard portrayed comedian Lenny Bruce in the 1999 production of Julian Barry's 1971 play Lenny. In 2001, he replaced Clive Owen in Peter Nichols' 1967 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at the Comedy Theatre. Izzard and Victoria Hamilton then repeated their lead roles when the show was brought to Broadway in 2003, with The Roundabout Theatre Company production. The revival received four Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading Actor and Actress for its stars Izzard and Hamilton in their Broadway debuts, and Best Direction for Laurence Boswell. In June 2010, Izzard replaced James Spader in the role of Jack Lawson in David Mamet's play Race on Broadway.^[18]

Izzard has appeared in numerous films, starting with 1996's The Secret Agent. He has appeared as several real-life individuals, including Charlie Chaplin in The Cat's Meow, actor Gustav von Wangenheim in Shadow of the Vampire and General Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie. Other roles have included Mr. Kite in Across the Universe, Lussurioso in Revengers Tragedy and criminal expert Roman Nagel in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. Voice work has included the titular It in Five Children and It, Nigel in The Wild and the mouse warrior Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. He said in 2009 that he would not be reprising his role as Reepicheep and the role was ultimately played by Simon Pegg in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He also had a brief appearance in James Cameron's oscar winning film, Titanic. He appeared as a cabin boy on the ship.

Izzard appeared in the BBC science fiction miniseries The Day of the Triffids based on the 1951 novel, alongside Jason Priestley, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Dougray Scott and Brian Cox.^[19] He played Dr. Hatteras, a sceptical psychology professor, in the Showtime series United States of Tara.^[20]

In December 2011, he appeared in the British drama Lost Christmas as Anthony. The film was written by David Logan and John Hay. In January 2012, he appeared as Long John Silver in Sky1's adaptation of Treasure Island alongside Elijah Wood and Philip Glenister among others.

Comic style[link]

Elliott Gould and Eddie Izzard

Izzard's style is heavily influenced by Monty Python, or rather Spike Milligan, especially in his use of a stream-of-consciousness delivery that jumps between topics as he free associates on stage. He does not generally work from a script, owing to his dyslexia. Instead, he interrupts himself with new joke ideas, the characters he portrays turn into other characters, and he nonchalantly leaps from topic to topic. This often results in brief pauses in the routine which he fills with 'so, yeah', and other verbal tics that have become his trademarks. Thinking aloud is also part of Izzard's ongoing attempt to make the process of writing the show itself part of the humour. As he put it in a 2004 interview with The Guardian, "It's the oral tradition. Human beings have been doing it for thousands of years".^[21] He frequently notes the reaction to a joke midstream by pretending to write on his hand ("Should be funnier"; "Lost them there"; "They didn't believe me"; "They didn't follow, never do that again"; "Never link those two [references] together ever again.") He asks the audience questions and verbally engages with hecklers.

Among Izzard's comic talents are mimicry and mime. He portrays God as an authority figure using the voice of James Mason and casts Sean Connery as Noah; these impersonations appear in many of his performances. Izzard also imitates activities such as sawing wood, vacuum cleaning, and mowing the lawn, anthropomorphising the machines with accents and personalities. Successful impressions, such as his Scottish clarinet teacher, Mrs. Badcrumble, become running gags which recur in different shows. He tackles topics both contemporary and historic, including frequent re-imaginings of historical events which result in scenes like 'Cake or Death: Church of England runs the Inquisition', or 'Jesus Ministers to the Dinosaurs'.

When asked about his comedy style by George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC Television's talk show, The Hour, Izzard described his use of history by saying,

"I just talk complete bullshit. The history, the politics, I noticed that no one was using history, so there's a lot of history lying about the place, and it's all free, and it's on Wikipedia! You know, I use Wikipedia like a crazy idiot, now. Then I take all this stuff, and I regurgitate it into a weird angle".^[22]

In 2008, in his Stripped tour, Izzard began using Wikipedia itself as part of his stand-up act, reading from a live copy of an article and mocking Wikipedia's self-referential editorial style.

Traditionally, Izzard has focused on the creative possibilities of thinking through absurd situations in real time. He also turns much of the attention on himself and his personality, including his cross-dressing ("It is my manifest destiny to wear a dress on all seven continents"). Contemporary popular culture (Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.) is also a frequent subject, brought up both to critique its weaknesses and to enhance his anecdotes.

His bent towards the surreal even went so far as to produce a sitcom called Cows in 1997 for Channel 4, a live action comedy with actors dressed in cowsuits.^[23]

Transvestism[link]

Izzard started to freely talk about his transvestism in venues like Edinburgh Festival as early as 1992.^[24][25] In his show, Dress to Kill, Izzard describes himself as an "executive", "action" and "professional" transvestite, as "a male tomboy" rather than a drag queen or a "weirdo" transvestite (he cites J. Edgar Hoover and Hermann Göring as examples of the latter). In the past he regularly cross-dressed on stage but, since gaining success as a television and film actor, has decided to stay in "boy-mode" for the last several years. While there are those who suspect Izzard's cross-dressing was simply a comedic hook, he says that cross-dressing is, for him, neither a part of his performance nor a sexual fetish.^{[citation needed]} He remarks in his show Unrepeatable, "Women wear what they want and so do I". According to Izzard, "Most transvestites fancy women".^[26] He dismisses claims that he is a male homosexual, saying he is "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian".^[27] He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body",^[28] transgender,^[24] and "a complete boy plus half girl".^[27]

Activism[link]

Izzard has engaged in campaigning work. He is especially well known as a pro-European Union campaigner supporting the further integration of the UK into the EU. In May 2005, he appeared on the BBC's political debate show Question Time, describing himself as a 'British-European', comparing this with other cultural identities such as 'African-American'. As part of his integration campaigning, he was one of the first people to spend a euro in London. This pan-European approach has influenced his work: he regularly performs in French,^[15][20] in which he is fluent,^[14] and occasionally in German,^[15] in addition to English. In July 2003, Izzard received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England for "pro-Europe campaigning", "his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles" and for having "transcended national barriers" with his humour.^[29]

He has also campaigned unsuccessfully against the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia, although the department of Drama was later reprieved. In 1998, Izzard was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party.^[30] He appeared in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party in the run up to the 2005 general election. He donated nearly £10,000 to the party in 2008,^[31] appeared again in a party political broadcast for the 2009 European election and again in a 2010 election video entitled 'Brilliant Britain'. Izzard appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.^[32] In 2011, Eddie Izzard revealed that he had political ambitions and wanted to become an MP, Mayor or MEP by 2020.^[33]

On 20 July 2006, he received an honorary doctorate in Letters from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sheffield,^[34] where he spent one year on an Accounting and Financial Management course in the early 80s. During his time at the University he established the now-defunct Alternative Productions Society in the Union of Students with the aim of promoting fringe-based arts. On 4 March 2010, he was elected as the Honorary President of the University of Sheffield Students' Union.^[35]

On 7 July 2007, Izzard was one of the presenters from the London leg of Live Earth. During an interview for the 2008 Stripped tour, Izzard spoke about becoming more active in European politics as well as running for political office in Europe within the next decade. Izzard added a stop in New Orleans during his 2008 Stripped tour. All proceeds from the performance of 23 June 2008 were donated to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.^[36]

Marathons[link]

On 27 July 2009, with only 5 weeks' training and no significant prior history of running, Izzard began seven weeks of back-to-back marathon runs (with Sundays off) across the UK to raise money for Sport Relief. He ran from London to Cardiff, to Belfast, to Edinburgh, and back to London carrying flags of England, Scotland or Wales depending on which country he was in, and carried a self-designed green flag bearing a white dove when in Northern Ireland. The blog Eddie Iz Running was a document of his road running marathon, in which he ran 43 marathons in 51 days. He completed the run on 15 September 2009, after having run at least 27 miles each day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering more than 1,100 miles across the UK.^[37] Izzard received a special award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009 for his achievements.^[38]

Izzard ran his final marathon in five hours and 30 seconds, narrowly outside his projected time. However, had he not stopped and waited 20 minutes for his film crew to catch up with him he could have finished well under his target time. In March 2010, Izzard took part in the Sport Relief Mile event.^[39]

Following the completion of the marathon runs, Izzard has started training to take part in an Ironman Triathlon, saying he has become fascinated with fitness "because there's no point in throwing away all that training".^[40]

Personal life[link]

During his Stripped tour, Izzard said he realised he was an atheist. "I was warming the material up in New York, where one night, literally on stage, I realised I didn’t believe in God at all. I just didn’t think there was anyone upstairs."^[41]

He keeps his romantic life private, saying one of the reasons is due to the wishes of his companions not wanting to become content for his show.^[41] Izzard dated Sarah Townsend, the director of the documentary Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story,^[14] whom he first met while she was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989.^[17]

Izzard speaks French and has performed stand up in French during his shows.^[14] He also speaks German and used it in the 2001 film All the Queen's Men.

He supports Crystal Palace FC.^[42]

Izzard is an outspoken supporter of the Labour Party, and in September 2011 declared his ambition to stand for the party in the future as an MP, MEP or as Mayor of London.^[43]

Critical reception[link]

On 18 March 2007, Izzard was listed as number 3 of the 100 Greatest British National Comedians (just behind Peter Kay at number 2 and Billy Connolly at number 1) as part of British television station Channel 4's ongoing 100 Greatest..., series. However in the 2010 updated version of the list he was ranked 5th^[44] In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was number 75 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

During the 1999 television special It's... the Monty Python Story,^[45] which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python"; Izzard furthered that idea via his substitution for Graham Chapman in public performance of Python material with the rest of the original members of the troupe. He also made a cameo appearance in the Python reunion interview Monty Python Live at Aspen.

In 2008, Izzard received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of UCD, Dublin, Ireland. In March 2010, Sheffield Students' Union of the University of Sheffield overwhelmingly elected him their honorary President.

Discography and appearances[link]

Stand-up[link]

• Live at the Ambassadors (15 November 1993)
• Unrepeatable (1994)
• Definite Article (21 October 1996)
• Glorious (17 November 1997)
• Dress to Kill (9 November 1998)
• Circle (18 November 2002)
• Sexie (26 November 2003)
• Stripped (23 November 2009)
• Force Majeure (2013)

Stage[link]

• 900 Oneonta (1994)
• The Cryptogram (1994)
• Edward II (1995)
• Lenny (1999)
• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2001–2002, 2003)
• Trumbo (2003)
• Race (2010)

Filmography[link]

• The Oncoming Storm (1995) as Luthor Keeton
• The Secret Agent (1996) as Vladimir
• Velvet Goldmine (1998) as Jerry Devine
• The Avengers (1998) as Bailey
• Mystery Men (1999) as Tony P
• The Criminal (1999) as Peter Hume
• Circus (2000) as Troy
• Shadow of the Vampire (2000) as Gustav von Wangenheim
• The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin
• All the Queen's Men (2001) as Tony Parker
• Revengers Tragedy (2002) as Lussurioso
• Alien Invasion (2003) as Brik
• Blueberry aka Renegade (2004) as Prosit
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
• Five Children and It (2004) as It (voice)
• Romance & Cigarettes (2004) as Gene Vincent
• Ocean's Twelve (2004) as Roman Nagel
• The Aristocrats (2005) as Himself
• The Wild (2006) as Nigel (voice)
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) as Professor Bedlam
• Ocean's Thirteen (2007) as Roman Nagel
• Across the Universe (2007) as Mr. Kite
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) as Reepicheep (voice)
• Igor (2008) as Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)
• Valkyrie (2008) as Erich Fellgiebel
• Rage (2009) as Tiny Diamonds
• The Other Side (2009) as Dean Bellamy
• Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story (2009) as Himself
• Every Day (2010) as Garrett
• Cars 2 (2011) as Miles Axelrod
• Lost Christmas (2011) as Anthony

TV appearances[link]

• Barf Bites Back (Amnesty International Gala) (1991) – ITV
• Open Fire (1994)
• Have I Got News for You (1994, 1995 and 1996) – BBC Two
• Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing (1995)
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1995)
• Tales from the Crypt (1996) – HBO
• Clive Anderson Talks Back (1996)
• Inspector Derrick (1997)
• Channel Izzard (1997)
• The Roseanne Show (1998)
• Rex the Runt (1998) – BBC
• Shooting Stars (1998) – BBC
• Parkinson (3 times)
• Dennis Miller Live (1999) – HBO
• Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python (1999) – BBC
• Good News Week (2000) – Network 10
• Mongrel Nation (2002) – Discovery Channel
• The Caroline Rhea Show (2002)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2002, 2004 and 2007)
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009)
• 40 (2003) – Channel 4
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2003, 2008) NBC
• QI (Unaired pilot- 2002 or 2003, and 2010)
• Top Gear (2004) – BBC Two
• Last Call with Carson Daly (2005)
• The Sharon Osbourne Show (2006)
• Late Show with David Letterman (6 times)
• Late Late show with Craig Kilborn (4 times)
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
• The Henry Rollins Show (2006)
• The Paul O'Grady Show (2009)
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
• Kitchen (2007) – five
• Comedy Cuts (interview) (2007)
• The Hour (2007)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2007 and 2009)
• The Daily Show (2000, 2003 and 2007)
• The Riches (2007–2008)
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2008)
• The Graham Norton Show (2008 and 2011)
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)
• Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (2009)
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year (2009 award winner)
• The Day of the Triffids (2009)
• Marathon Man (2010)
• The Simpsons episode To Surveil with Love (2010)
• Chelsea Lately (2010)
• United States of Tara (2011)
• Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2011)
• The Green Room with Paul Provenza (2011)
• The Good Wife (2011) Season 3 – Episode 2, James Thrush ^[46]
• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2011)
• Treasure Island (2012) as Long John Silver
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2012)

Video game[link]

• 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue – Sgt. Tibbs the Cat (voice)

See also[link]

• Cross-dressing in film and television

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eddie Izzard

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Eddie Izzard

• Official web site
• BBC America – Eddie Izzard
• Eddie Izzard at the Internet Movie Database
• Eddie Izzard at AllRovi
• Interview with Izzard – The Observer, 3 October 2004
• It's stupid and I love it – the Goon Show and me – The Guardian, 14 February 2005.
• Izzard interviewed by Bono – The Independent, 16 May 2006
• Venus Zine Staff Picks: Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill

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]