Has Any Comedic Actor Ever Come Close to '80s Eddie Murphy?

Although I agree that Eddie's first three movies (48 Hours, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop)were classics, with BHC being the best, I disagree about the other three movies that the OP lists. I disagree that "Golden Child" was ever a classic, and IMHO "Raw" is vastly overrated (Eddie was never really too keen on stand-up comedy, although he is a great impressionist.) "Coming To America" is also overrated; it was too predictable.

Just my opinion.

Like someone else has pointed out, Robin Williams was an awesome stand-up comedian and a legend as a dramatic actor. His comedy films were never that great, but his drama films rocked time and time again, hence the academy award and multiple nominations.

But - as far as comedy films are concerned, Leslie Nielsen had a huge string of great comedy spoofs - his films stand the test time as well as any Eddie Murphy film, but was he really a comedian? I'd say, no.

Will Ferrel is one of the funniest dudes all around - his interviews are hilarious - the problem is, his interviews are usually much better than any of his comedy films.

Going back in time - you have Chevy Chase classics or even John Candy.

This list shows the supposed top 50 comedy actors of all time - http://www.craveonline.com/mandatory/1043888-the-50-funniest-actors-of-all-time

Bill Murrey is listed as being #1. He does have a few classic under his belt... but to say that he was the best comedy actor?

At the end of the day, it all comes down to timing and script. Eddie Murphy aged very badly - not in the physical sense, but in mental one - if you even see his recent interviews, there's barely a spark of humor left. Will Ferrel gives the best/funniest interviews, but his films are not particularly great. What gives? Like I said, timing/script are the key. If not for that, Leslie Nielsen wouldn't be on that list, period. Will Ferrel, on the other hand, should record his interviews and make a film out of those ;)

WC Fields
Groucho Marx
Gracie Allen
George Burns
Jack Lemmon
Steve Martin (also an excellent dramatic actor: The Spanish Prisoner)
The Ritz Brothers
Mae West
Allen Arkin
for starters; and many of them wrote their own lines

I think you're being a bit generous. Raw was only okay at the time, and it has aged badly. The Golden Child was flop then and still a forgettable film. Harlem Nights and Beverly Hills Cop 2 were both lousy. That leaves four solid films, and they are all quite good-- 48 Hours, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America. Those four films are classics of the comedy genre to be sure, but I think many other comedians have given us at least four classics in a decade's time. I certainly would not include Adam Sandler in that list, by the way, but that's an argument for a different thread.

I think Steve Martin had an equally, if not more, impressive run with The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, All of Me, The Man With Two Brains, The Lonely Guy, Three Amigos, Roxanne, Planes Trains & Automobiles, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels between 1979 and 1988.

Chevy Chase had a solid '80s, with Vacation, Caddyshack, Three Amigos, Fletch, and Fletch Lives all being on par with any of Murphy's '80s films.

Bill Murray also sits up there-- Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Scrooged, What About Bob?, and Groundhog Day. Stripes and Meatballs aren't movies I think highly of, but many do, so possibly include those.

Eddie Murphy certainly had a solid run in the '80s, but I wouldn't say it was unequaled.

Maybe I'm a nut but I think Harlem Nights (1989) was one of his 2 or 3 best flicks. I loved Prior and Redd Foxx in this one too.

Best Defense (1984) was a Dudley Moore movie with a guest appearance by Eddie Murphy. Pretty good movie too but I love 80s Dudley Moore movies.

Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987). I don't consider this a movie. Some may, that's fine.

I would sooner take Steve Martin's filmography in that 80's era than Murphy's. I think his films were funnier. Trading Places is easily Murphy's best comedy and then some of those other hits you mentioned are overrated or dated or both. Martin's 3 best in my opinion are The Man With Two brains, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and they trump the 3 best of Murphy. That's excluding Three Amigos, and other underrated films like Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and All of Me, meaning the ones outside his top 3 probably trump the rest of Murphy's too.

One thing they do have in common though, is that they both have sucked after the 80's.

Right off the top of my head, here are some comedic actors who had hits and mega-hits that have stood the test of time on levels equal to or surpassing Eddie Murphy:

Roscoe Arbuckle
Buster Keaton
Harold Lloyd
Charlie Chaplin
W.C. Fields
Joe E. Brown
Jack Benny
Bob Hope
Danny Kaye
Jerry Lewis
Woody Allen
Gene Wilder

If I spent some time, I could probably come up with more. And those are just the solos. If we include teams, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, and Abbott and Costello all pulled in big bucks at the box office and are still critically and popularly acclaimed.

If you want to be a real film aficionado, you've got to think before 1980.

Bill Murray, Jim Carrey, and Steve Martin have all had more impressive careers than Eddie Murphy. But forget about them. Charlie Chaplin beats them all by almost any measure except, perhaps, box office numbers (and Chaplin's films were very profitable, usually returning 3-5 times the budget).