He finally got a part as an “extra” and appeared sporadically throughout the show’s unsuccessful season. One fateful night, during a moment of panic when producers realized they had four minutes of airtime remaining and no material, they pushed Murphy before the camera and told him to do his stand-up routine. His improvised performance was called “masterful” by Rolling Stone and Murphy became one of only two cast members (along with Joe Piscopo) asked back for the next season. Murphy became Saturday Night Live’s strongest comedic presence, creating such memorable characters as Mister Robinson, a ghetto version of TV’s Mister Rogers; a grown-up Little Rascals' Buckwheat; and an illiterate convict-poet Tyrone Green. He also continued his skillful impersonations, adding Bill Cosby, Muhammad Ali, James Brown, Jerry Lewis, and Stevie Wonder to his repertoire. Murphy received some criticism for his satirical characterizations based on black stereotypes, but in defense, he claimed that his characters were far too absurd and abstract to be taken seriously. In 1982, Murphy received a Grammy nomination for an album of stand-up material, which eventually went gold, and at age 21, he landed his first major motion picture role, alongside Nick Nolte in 48 Hours (1982). He approached the role with confidence and ingenuity, convincing director Walter Hill to adjust some of the dialogue to more genuinely depict a black speaker. His charming and inspired performance as the fast-talking convict stole the film, and 48 Hours grossed over $5 million in its first week. Murphy followed this success with the 1930s style farce Trading Places (1983). Playing alongside fellow SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd, Murphy’s street-wise Billy Ray Valentine becomes the victim, then the victor, of two Wall Street moguls’shortsighted bet. Paramount proceeded to sign the 23-year-old to a six-picture contract worth $25 million. Murphy’s next film, Beverly Hills Cop (1984), hit number nine on the list of all-time box office hits. He played bad boy/good cop Axel Foley, a role originally slated for Sylvester Stallone, and earned a Golden Globe nomination. Taking advantage of his status as a hot commodity, Murphy released his first album How Could it Be? featuring the hit single “Party All the Time.”

Murphy went on the make Beverly Hills Cop II in 1987, which received mixed reviews from critics, but major rewards from the box office.