LOS ANGELES — Actor-comedian Eddie Murphy will host the 84th annual Academy Awards in February, producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer said Tuesday.
Ratner called the 50-year-old entertainer “a comedic genius” and “one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever.”
This will be Murphy’s first time hosting the Oscars. He said in a statement Tuesday that he is “enormously honored” to join the ranks of past Academy Awards hosts such as Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg.
Murphy started his career as a standup comic when he was 15 and has gone on to amass dozens of film credits as a writer, actor and producer. He was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in 2006’s “Dreamgirls.”
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
The Associated Press
