Eddie Murphy receives AFI Lifetime Achievement award

Eddie Murphy has received the Australian Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement award.

The accolade is the highest honour bestowed by the AFI.

The award ceremony took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on 19 April.

Murphy, who is nearly 65, entered the room to a standing ovation, with a celebrity audience including Mike Myers, Spike Lee and Chris Rock.

Murphy's career began in the 1980s when he was a teenage stand-up comic. He joined Saturday Night Live at age 19, before moving into film and starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, and Coming to America.

Mike Myers honoured his friend for his voice work as Donkey in Shrek by turning up in green makeup and wearing ogre ears on either side of his head.

"None of Shrek's success could have happened without Eddie Murphy," Myers said during the ceremony. "Eddie's character, Donkey, is a masterpiece, as is every character Eddie has created over the years." Kevin Hart called him "the blueprint for comedians everywhere."

The ceremony will be aired on Netflix on May 31.

Murphy has 10 children, ranging in age between six and 36. He recently welcomed his fourth grandchild.