Hollywood Legend Makes Rare Appearance to Honor Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy was honored in a new Netflix special, The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy, on May 31, and the event included a rare appearance by comedy legend Mel Brooks!
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The 99-year-old Blazing Saddles writer and director named Murphy as one of the modern kings of comedy in a prerecorded message shown at the event, which was taped in April.
"Before you were born, even before I was born, the movies were born," said the Young Frankenstein creator in his heartfelt speech. "One of the great gifts they gave us, perhaps the greatest gift, was laughter. In its earliest days, there were kings of comedy: Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd."
"Some have talents that burst beyond the screen and onto the stage," he continued. "They create characters that have us look inside ourselves. And there are some, very few, that did it all. But, tonight, beyond the echo of laughter, we honor a man full of greater surprises, and one who broke barriers to drive culture forward."
The father of 10 joins the likes of many artistic geniuses who have won the award in the past, including Francis Ford Coppola,Julie Andrews, Nicole Kidman, Denzel Washington, and Brooks himself, who was honored in 2013. This is the first time the event has been available to stream on Netflix.
Murphy's rise to fame began in the late 1970s as a teenage stand-up comedian, but his career exploded after he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1980 at just 19 years old. Murphy successfully transitioned from TV to film with blockbuster hits like 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop.
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Over the decades, Murphy has built one of the most successful careers in entertainment history, starring in beloved films like Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Dreamgirls, and the Shrek franchise, in which he voiced Donkey.
His many honors include a Golden Globe Award for Dreamgirls, Grammy and Emmy Awards, an Oscar nom, the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2023, and now the AFI Life Achievement Award.
You can watch The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphyhere.
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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 6:38 PM.