Eddie Murphy is planning a return to stand-up after 20 years.

The comic said he had tired of making films, and that his upcoming comedy, Meet Dave, would be one of the last. He has already turned down the lead in Beverly Hills Cop 4.

Speaking to the syndicated American entertainment programme Extra, Murphy said he wanted to quit before he turned 50 in 2011.

He said: ‘I'll have been making movies 30 years and I have close to 50 movies and it’s like, “Why am I in the movies?”

‘I've done that part now. I'll go back to the stage and do stand-up.’

Murphy was a stand-up for most of the Eighties, until the release of his second concert film Raw in 1987, which briefly topped the US box office. It held the record for the film containing the most uses of the word ‘fuck’ until the release of Goodfellas three years later.

Here he is in his prime in Delirious...