Legendary comedic actor Eddie Murphy won his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series on “Saturday Night Live,” 40 years after he made his first appearance on the show in 1980.
The Coming to America and Beverly Hills Cop star won the award at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, which is 37 years after he was nominated for his first Emmy Award for best supporting actor in a comedy for “SNL” in 1983, according to Entertainment Weekly.
And just like that, Eddie Murphy is an #Emmy winner! He just earned his first statuette for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series for hosting @nbcsnl. pic.twitter.com/5NzN63jTxL
— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 20, 2020
Murphy, 59, who is one of the biggest box-office attractions in the history of American motion pictures, was effusive in his praise for everyone involved in bringing him back to “SNL” and for giving him his first Emmy.
“Thank you to everybody at the Emmys. Thank you so much for giving me an Emmy. I don’t have an Emmy. This is 40 years since I started ‘Saturday Night Live.’ This is my first Emmy, so thank you so much,” Murphy said during his virtual acceptance speech on Saturday evening.
“I want to thank Lorne Michaels for putting this whole thing together and making this happen. And I want to thank the cast and the writers and the crew at ‘SNL.’ This was a very, very special thing for me to come back and have the show turn out the way it did. I’m still floating from it. And thank you to everybody for giving me an Emmy.”
Flip the page to listen to Murphy’s acceptance speech in full:
