Lead Actor in the 1996 Film
Eddie Murphy played Professor Sherman Klump and his multiple alter egos in the 1996 comedy The Nutty Professor, produced by Imagine Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film grossed around 274 million dollars worldwide and was one of Murphy's highest-grossing live-action comedies of the 1990s Forbes. Box Office Mojo
Murphy's performance relied on heavy prosthetics and makeup designed by Rick Baker, who won the Academy Award for Best Makeup for the film. The script adapted the 1963 Jerry Lewis classic and reframed the story as a romantic comedy with science-fiction elements, focusing on a kind-hearted but obese university researcher who invents a weight-loss formula IMDb.
Remake and Supporting Cast
In the 2008 remake, The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Eddie Murphy again starred as the lead, while the role of young Sherman was played by actor and comedian Jay Mohr in a supporting capacity. The film was produced by Imagine Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures, with a worldwide gross of roughly 180 million dollars Box Office Mojo.
The supporting cast included Janet Jackson as Carla Purty, James Coburn as Harlan Hartley, and Larry Miller as Dean Richmond. Production design and prosthetics again played a central role, with multiple makeup and effects teams working under studio oversight to transform Murphy into several distinct characters IMDb.
Production Companies and Distribution
Both versions of The Nutty Professor were produced under the Imagine Entertainment banner and distributed by Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is part of Comcast Corporation. The films were marketed as broad family comedies and targeted audiences seeking lighthearted holiday and summer releases Forbes.
The original 1963 version starred Jerry Lewis and was produced by Lewis's own production company, released through Paramount Pictures. The 1996 and 2008 remakes modernized the story and relied on digital and practical effects, with global box office tracking and studio reporting handled by platforms such as Box Office Mojo and The Numbers Box Office Mojo.