Impact Multiplex theaters resulted from market
forces that transformed the traditional format for
film presentation. Stanley Durwood originally pro-
duced the modifications that would lead from the
single-theater complex to the multiplex in 1963. He
subdivided his Roxy Theatre in 1964 and found he
could save money overall with one staff and a single
lobby at the heart of a complex of multiple screens.
By the end of the 1980’s, a further modified form re-
sulted: the megaplex, which was a stand-alone struc-
ture with eighteen to twenty-four screens and dozens
of starting times. The multiplex was notable also in
that during the 1980’s ownership of theaters moved
out of individual investors’ hands and into corporate
control, as chains of movie houses continued to
grow beyond the multiplex. By the end of the 1980’s,
new media such as videotape, laserdiscs, cable televi-
sion, and computers had led to more people than
ever watching movies at home or at other venues
outside the theater, prompting the enlarging of the
multiplex theaters into megaplexes, as the theater
industry fought to compete in an ever-diversifying
market.
Further Reading
Beyard, Michael D.Developing Retail Entertainment
Destinations. Washington, D.C.: Urban Land Insti-
tute, 2001.
Klinger, Barbara.Beyond the Multiplex: Cinema, New
Technologies, and the Home.Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2006.
Michael W. Simpson
See also Architecture; Cable television; Film in
Canada; Film in the United States; Television; Video
games and arcades.
Murphy, Eddie
Identification African American actor and
comedian
Born April 3, 1961; Brooklyn, New York
One of the most successful comedic actors in television and
film during the 1980’s, Murphy helped popularize the mis-
matched buddy film and revived the formula of a single per-
former playing multiple roles in the same movie.
Eddie Murphy got his big break as a comedian in
1980, when he became a regular on the 1980-1981
season of the television showSaturday Night Live.
Murphy developed impressions of celebrities such as
Stevie Wonder and James Brown, as well as stock
characters, including a human-sized Gumby, an
adult version of child actor Buckwheat, and Mister
Robinson—an urban, African American version of
children’s television host Fred Rogers. Murphy be-
came so popular that some considered him one of
the most talented performers ever to be featured on
the long-running show.
In 1982, Murphy got his first opportunity to make
the transition to film, starring with Nick Nolte in the
box-office hit48 Hrs. The film, which combined the
thriller and buddy genres, demonstrated Murphy’s
talent for incorporating comic lines and timing into
an otherwise serious performance. Murray leftSat-
urday Night Liveduring its 1983-1984 season to con-
centrate on his film career. Between 1983 and 1989,
he made nine films.Trading Places(1983), twoBeverly
Hills Copfilms (1984 and 1987), andComing to Amer-
ica(1988) were outstanding box-office hits. The lat-
ter featured Murphy in four separate roles. Those
films not as well received includedBest Defense(1984)
andHarlem Nights(1989), which Murphy co-wrote,
produced, directed, and starred in.Harlem Nights,The Eighties in America Murphy, Eddie 681
New York mayor Ed Koch, right, tries to talk Eddie Murphy, center,
and Joe Piscopo out of jumping off a ledge in a May, 1983, sketch
fromSaturday Night Live. Murphy’s performances in the sketch
comedy show launched his career.(AP/Wide World Photos)