Eddie Murphy Picked To Bring More Laughs on Oscar Night

Eddie Murphy To Host the 84th Oscars

Eddie Murphy, the comedian best known for box-office hits such as "Beverly Hills Cop," "The Nutty Professor" and "Shrek," has been selected as the host of the 84th Academy Awards. It will be his first time to host the show which will air on February 26 on ABC.

The announcement was made Tuesday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rumors of Eddie Murphy's Oscar gig have been circulating in the last few days. In a statement, the 50-year old actor said that he is "enormously honored" to host the prestigious event.

In picking Eddie Murphy, the Academy wanted to return to the tradition of having comics anchor the show. Previous hosts include Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Steve Martin and Billy Crystal. It also breaks the run of shows where multiple hosts were featured. Last year's hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway were selected to appeal to a younger audience but their performances were largely criticized.

With the selection of Eddie Murphy, Oscar night would return to a tried and tested formula. Well-known for his impersonations, Eddie Murphy can carry the show all by himself, the show's producers believe. They also think that having just one host will also quicken the pace of the show.

While his films in the 1990s were solid hits, the last several years have not been so successful for Eddie Murphy. Save for "Dreamgirls" and "Shrek," his other films "The Haunted Mansion" and "Meet Dave" were considered flops.

His somewhat reclusive reputation did not help him during the downturn of his career. But Eddie Murphy's Oscar hosting performance might just give him the career boost he deserves.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Wednesday September 07 2011, 4:59 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0