55. Axel Foley

Appearance: The Beverly Hills Cop trilogy (1984-1994)

Creator: Daniel Petrie Jr.

Performer: Eddie Murphy

Defining moment: His incredulous but knowing squeal, "Getthefuckouttahere!" to snippy gallery flunky Serge when he's told the price of the works of art.

Fascinating fact: The role was originally written for Sylvester Stallone, who rewrote much of the script, had it rejected, and later recycled some of the ideas for 1986's Cobra.

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