The American Film Institute (AFI) Board of Trustees has announced that Eddie Murphy will receive the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award, America’s highest honor for a career in film.
The award will be presented at a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 18, 2026.
“Eddie Murphy is an American icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. “A trailblazing force in the art forms of film, television and stand-up comedy, his versatility knows no bounds. Across five decades, his enduring impact on our culture has inspired artists and audiences alike, and AFI is proud to honor him with the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award.”
The American Film Institute is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. All proceeds from the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute Gala support AFI’s education and arts initiatives.
The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree joins an esteemed group of individuals who have been chosen for this distinguished honor since its inception.
Eddie Murphy is the most commercially successful African-American actor in the history of the motion picture business and is one of the industry’s top five box-office performers overall. At the tender age of 64, Murphy is on the very short list of actors who have starred in multiple $100 million pictures over the past three decades.
Currently seen in the Netflix documentary BEING EDDIE, Murphy was most recently seen starring in Amazon’s heist comedy THE PICKUP and the hit holiday film CANDY CANE LANE, as well as YOU PEOPLE for Netflix. He also starred in COMING 2 AMERICA, the long-awaited sequel to his 1988 box-office hit; as well as portraying the legendary underground comic personality Rudy Ray Moore in the Netflix biopic DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, a performance which garnered him Golden Globes nominations for Best Picture Comedy/Musical and Lead Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Critics Choice Association nomination for Best Actor.
In 2020, he received an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and in 2023 his contributions to film were recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association when they presented him with their highest honor, The Cecil B. DeMille Award.
In 2007, Murphy received rave reviews and critical acclaim for his portrayal of James “Thunder” Early in he DreamWorks film DREAMGIRLS, a performance which would garner him the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture as well as earning him his first Academy Award® nomination in the same category.
He is also the voice of Donkey in the Oscar®-winning animated film SHREK and its sequel, SHREK 2, which is the top-grossing animated film of all time. Murphy won an Annie Award and earned BAFTA and MTV Movie Award nominations for his performance in the first SHREK and will reprise the role of Donkey in the forthcoming next installment of the hugely successful franchise.
Murphy began his career as a stand-up comedian over 45 years ago. In 1980, at the age of 19, he joined the cast of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, and has since gone on to establish a successful career on the big screen.
His films have been among the highest-grossing comedies in the industry, including 48 HRS., TRADING PLACES, DR. DOLITTLE, COMING TO AMERICA and the BEVERLY HILLS COP franchise. Murphy garnered Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy for his performances in BEVERLY HILLS COP, TRADING PLACES and 48 HRS.
In 1989, Murphy made his directorial debut with HARLEM NIGHTS, a period comedy he also wrote and starred in, opposite Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. In addition, Murphy starred in and produced the hit comedy LIFE, co-starring Martin Lawrence, and starred opposite Steve Martin in the comedy BOWFINGER. He was also the voice of Mushu the Dragon in the successful animated epic MULAN.
In 1996, Murphy portrayed seven different characters in the worldwide box office smash THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, for which he received another Golden Globe Award nomination. He added a character to play a total of eight roles in the sequel, NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS, co-starring Janet Jackson. He has also starred in DR. DOLITTLE 2, DADDY DAY CARE, the romantic comedy NORBIT, in which he played three characters as well as serving as the film’s producer and screenwriter, the caper comedy TOWER HEIST opposite Ben Stiller, and the drama MR. CHURCH.
About the AFI Life Achievement Award
The highest honor given for a career in film, the AFI Board of Trustees established the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1973. It is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees: “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”
Most recently, AFI presented the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award to Francis Ford Coppola on Saturday, April 26, at a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Icons from across the entertainment world gathered to celebrate Coppola’s legendary career and lasting impact on cinema. Robert De Niro, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, Ron Howard, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Spike Lee, Ralph Macchio, Al Pacino, Gia Coppola and Roman Coppola all paid tribute to the five-time Academy Award® winner, with a special performance by Josh Groban. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas presented the award, reflecting on Coppola’s influence on a generation of filmmakers, while the honoree’s daughter, Sofia Coppola, appeared in an exclusive interview segment.
About the American Film Institute (AFI)
The American Film Institute (AFI) is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. Established in 1967, AFI launched the first comprehensive history of American film and sparked the movement for film preservation in the United States In 1969.
