Comedian Eddie Murphy, famed for his roles in films like Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places, will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour this year on October 18.

Murphy is the 18th humourist to be honoured with the award and follows television comedians Jay Leno in 2014 and Carol Burnett in 2013, the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts said on its website.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition from the Kennedy Center and to join the distinguished list of past recipients of this award,” Murphy said on the website.

The Kennedy Centre called the 54-year-old Murphy “the most commercially successful African-American actor in the history of the motion picture business”. Like many American comedians, he got his big break when he joined the cast of late-night variety show Saturday Night Live.

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