Eddie Murphy: From mean to clean

By Denise Martin, Emily Christianson, Patrick Kevin Day and Jevon Phillips, Times Staff Writers

Has Eddie Murphy gone family man for good? Will we never again see the edginess on display in his early, decidedly un-PC stand-up career? A comeback looked imminent when the comedian received an Oscar nomination in 2006, but Murphy followed that triumph up with another turn as the dizzying Donkey in the third "Shrek" film, broad comedies "Meet Dave" and "Norbit" and now, the family film "Imagine That," about a father whose daughter's imagination winds up helping him out at the office.

We examine Murphy's journey from mean to clean: