Mel Brooks, 99, makes rare appearance in award special honoring Eddie Murphy

Laura AdamczykSun, May 31, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC

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Eddie Murphy; Mel Brooks
Credit: Ser Baffo/Netflix; Emma McIntyre/GettyKey Points -

Mel Brooks, the 99-year-old comedy legend, made a rare recent appearance, in The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy.

Murphy is a comedian who "did it all," Brooks said in a pre-taped introduction for the ceremony, which was filmed in April and premiered Sunday on Netflix.

The Blazing Saddles writer and director received the same life achievement award in 2013.

Mel Brooks made a rare recent appearance, and for a good reason: to honor fellow comedy legend Eddie Murphy for The51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy.

The 99-year-old man referred to Murphy as "a man full of greater surprises" in his pre-taped opening for the ceremony, which was filmed in April and premiered Sunday on Netflix.

The writer and director of such comedy classics as Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers remained sincere throughout his remarks, saying Murphy was someone "who broke barriers to drive culture forward."

Eddie Murphy accepts the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award
Credit: Ser Baffo/Netflix

“Before you were born, even before I was born, the movies were born," Brooks began. "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."

Brooks continued, "Some have talents that burst beyond the screen and onto the stage. 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.”

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For Murphy, doing "it all" includes filming groundbreaking stand-up specials in the '80s like Delirious and Eddie Murphy Raw; joining Saturday Night Live in 1980, when he was just 19 years old; then going on to have a decades-long film career starring in such movies as Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Dreamgirls, and Dolemite Is My Name.

The AFI Life Achievement Award is given every year, according to the American Film Institute, to an individual “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.”

Eddie Murphy
Credit: Ser Baffo/Netflix

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The award's most recent winners include Francis Ford Coppola, Nicole Kidman, Julie Andrews, and Denzel Washington. Brooks himself received the same award from the American Film Institute in 2013.

The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy is now streaming on Netflix.

on Entertainment Weekly

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