Steve Martin | |
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.jpg) Martin in 2017 | |
| Born | Stephen Glenn Martin (1945-08-14)August 14, 1945 (age 80) Waco, Texas, U.S. |
| Notable work | Steve Martin filmography |
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| Children | 1 |
| Comedy Career | |
| Years active | 1966–present |
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| Musical career | |
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| Website | stevemartin |
Musical artist | |
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Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known forhis work in comedy films, television, andrecording, he has receivedmany accolades, including fiveGrammy Awards, aPrimetime Emmy Award, and aScreen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for eightGolden Globe Awards and twoTony Awards. Martin received theMark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2005, theKennedy Center Honors in 2007, theHonorary Academy Award in 2013 and anAFI Life Achievement Award in 2015.[1] In 2004,Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greateststand-up comics.[2]
Martin first came to public notice as a writer forThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which he won aPrimetime Emmy Award in 1969, and later as a frequent host onSaturday Night Live. He became one of the most popular American stand-up comedians during the 1970s, performing his brand of offbeat,absurdist comedy routines before sold-out theaters on national tours. He then starred in films such asThe Jerk (1979),Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982),The Man with Two Brains (1983),All of Me (1984),¡Three Amigos! (1986),Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987),Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988),L.A. Story (1991),Bowfinger (1999) andLooney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). He played family patriarchs inParenthood (1989), theFather of the Bride films (1991–1995),Bringing Down the House (2003), and theCheaper by the Dozen films (2003–2005).
Since 2015, Martin has embarked on several national comedy tours with fellow comedianMartin Short.[3] In 2018, they released theirNetflix specialAn Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life which received fourPrimetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2021, he co-created and starred in his first television show, theHulu comedy seriesOnly Murders in the Building, alongside Short andSelena Gomez, for which he earned threePrimetime Emmy Award nominations, twoScreen Actors Guild Award nominations, aGolden Globe Award nomination, and a 2021Peabody Award nomination. In 2022, Martin and Short co-hostedSaturday Night Live together with Gomez making an appearance.
Martin is also known for writing the books to the musicalBright Star (2016) and to the comedyMeteor Shower (2017), both of which premiered onBroadway; he co-wrote the music to the former. Martin has playedbanjo since an early age and has included music in his comedy routines from the beginning of his professional career. He has released several music albums and has performed with variousbluegrass acts. He has won threeGrammy Awards for his music and two for his comedy albumsLet's Get Small (1977) andA Wild and Crazy Guy (1978).[4]
Stephen Glenn Martin was born on August 14, 1945,[5][6] inWaco, Texas,[7] the son of Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1911–2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914–1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor.[8][9] He has an older sister, Melinda.[10]
Martin is of English,Scottish,Welsh,Scots-Irish, German, and French descent. He and his sister grew up in aBaptist family inInglewood, California, and later inGarden Grove inOrange County;[11] he was a cheerleader atGarden Grove High School.[12] One of Martin's earliest memories is seeing his father as an extra serving drinks onstage at the Callboard Theater on Melrose Place inWest Hollywood. DuringWorld War II inBritain, his father appeared in a production ofOur Town withRaymond Massey. Expressing his affection through gifts like cars and bikes, Steve's father was stern and not emotionally open to his son.[13] He was proud but critical, with Steve later recalling that in his teens his feelings for his father were mostly of hatred.[14]
Steve Martin's first job was at newly openedDisneyland, selling guidebooks on weekends and full-time during summer break. The work lasted for three years (1955–1958). During his free time, he frequented theMain Street Magic shop, where tricks were demonstrated to patrons.[13] While working at Disneyland, he was captured in the background of the home movie that was made into the short-subject filmDisneyland Dream, incidentally becoming his first film appearance. By 1960, he had mastered several magic tricks and illusions and took a paying job at the Magic shop inFantasyland in August. There he perfected his talents for magic, juggling, and creating balloon animals in the manner of mentorWally Boag,[15] frequently performing for tips.[16]
In his authorized biography, close friend Morris Walker suggests that Martin could "be described most accurately as an agnostic ... he rarely went to church and was never involved in organized religion of his own volition".[17] In his early 20s, Martin dated Melissa Trumbo, daughter of novelist and screenwriterDalton Trumbo.
After high school, Martin attendedSanta Ana College, taking classes in drama and English poetry. In his free time, he teamed up with friend and high school classmate Kathy Westmoreland to participate in comedies and other productions at theBird Cage Theatre. He joined a comedy troupe atKnott's Berry Farm.[13] Later, he met budding actressStormie Sherk, and they developed comedy routines and became romantically involved. Sherk's influence led Martin to apply to theCalifornia State University, Long Beach, for enrollment with a major in philosophy.[13] Sherk enrolled atUCLA, about an hour's drive north, and the distance eventually caused them to lead separate lives.[18]
Inspired by his philosophy classes, Martin considered becoming a professor instead of an actor-comedian. Being at college changed his life.
It changed what I believe and what I think about everything. I majored in philosophy. Something aboutnon-sequiturs appealed to me. In philosophy, I started studyinglogic, and they were talking aboutcause and effect, and you start to realize, 'Hey, there is no cause and effect! There is no logic! There is no anything!' Then it gets real easy to write this stuff because all you have to do is twist everything hard—you twist thepunch line, you twist thenon-sequitur so hard away from the things that set it up.[19]
Martin recalls reading a treatise on comedy that led him to think:
What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation.[20]
Martin periodically spoofed his philosophy studies in his 1970s stand-up act, comparing philosophy with studying geology.
If you're studying geology, which is all facts, as soon as you get out of school you forget it all, but philosophy you remember just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life.[21]
In 1967, Martin transferred toUCLA and switched his major to theater. While attending college, he appeared in an episode ofThe Dating Game, winning a date withDeana Martin. Martin began working local clubs at night, to mixed notices, and at twenty-one, he dropped out of college.[22]
In 1967, his former girlfriend Nina Goldblatt, a dancer onThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, helped Martin land a writing job with the show by submitting his work to head writerMason Williams.[23] Williams initially paid Martin out of his own pocket. Along with the other writers for the show, Martin won anEmmy Award[24] in 1969 at the age of twenty-three.[13] He wrote forThe Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour andThe Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Martin's first national television appearance was onThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968. He says:
[I] appeared onTheVirginia Graham Show, circa 1970. I looked grotesque. I had a hairdo like a helmet, which I blow-dried to a puffy bouffant, for reasons I no longer understand. I wore a frock coat and a silk shirt, and my delivery was mannered, slow and self-aware. I had absolutely no authority. After reviewing the show, I was depressed for a week.[20]
During these years his roommates includedGary Mule Deer andMichael Johnson.[25] Gary Mule Deer supplied the first joke Martin submitted to Tommy Smothers for use on theSmothers Brothers Comedy Hour show.[26] Martin opened for groups such asThe Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (who returned the favor by appearing in his 1980 television specialAll Commercials),The Carpenters, andToto. He appeared atThe Boarding House, among other venues. He continued to write, earning an Emmy nomination for his work onVan Dyke and Company in 1976.
In the mid-1970s, Martin made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,[20] and onThe Gong Show,HBO'sOn Location,The Muppet Show,[27] andNBC'sSaturday Night Live (SNL).SNL's audience jumped by a million viewers when he made guest appearances, and he was one of the show's most successful hosts.[13] Martin has appeared on twenty-sevenSaturday Night Live shows and guest-hosted sixteen times, second only toAlec Baldwin, who has hosted seventeen times as of February 2017[update]. On the show, Martin popularized theair quotes gesture.[28] While on the show, Martin grew close to several cast members, includingGilda Radner. On the night she died ofovarian cancer, a tearful Martin hostedSNL and featured footage of himself and Radner together in a 1978 sketch.
In the 1970s, his television appearances led to the release of comedy albums that wentplatinum.[13] The track "Excuse Me" on his first album,Let's Get Small (1977), helped establish a nationalcatch phrase.[13] His next album,A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978), was an even bigger success, reaching the No. 2 spot on the U.S. sales chart, selling over a million copies. "Just a wild and crazy guy" became another of Martin's known catchphrases.[13] The album featured a character based on a series ofSaturday Night Live sketches in which Martin andDan Aykroyd played the Festrunk Brothers; Yortuk and Georgi were bumblingCzechoslovak would-be playboys. The album ends with the song "King Tut", written and sung by Martin and backed by the "Toot Uncommons", members of theNitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was later released as a single, reaching No. 17 on the U.S. charts in 1978 and selling over a million copies.[13][29] The song came out during theKing Tut craze that accompanied the popular traveling exhibit of the Egyptian king's tomb artifacts. Both albums wonGrammys forBest Comedy Recording in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Martin performed "King Tut" on the April 22, 1978,SNL program.
Decades later, in 2012,The A.V. Club described Martin's unique style and its effect on audiences:
[Martin was] both a consummate entertainer and a glib, knowing parody of a consummate entertainer. He was at once a hammy populist with an uncanny, unprecedented feel for the tastes of a mass audience and a sly intellectual whose goofy shtick cunningly deconstructed stand-up comedy.[30]
On his comedy albums, Martin's stand-up is self-referential and sometimesself-mocking. It mixes philosophical riffs with sudden spurts of "happy feet",banjo playing with balloon depictions of concepts likevenereal disease, and the "controversial" kitten juggling (he is a master juggler; the "kittens" werestuffed animal toys). His style is off-kilter and ironic and sometimes pokes fun at stand-up comedy traditions, such as Martin opening his act (fromA Wild and Crazy Guy) by saying:
I think there's nothing better for a person to come up and do the same thing over and over for two weeks. This is what I enjoy, so I'm going to do the same thing over and over and over [...] I'm going to do the same joke over and over in the same show, it'll be like a new thing.
Or: "Hello, I'm Steve Martin, and I'll be out here in a minute."[28][31] In one comedy routine, used on theComedy Is Not Pretty! album, Martin claimed that his real name was "Gern Blanston". The riff took on a life of its own. There is a Gern Blanston website, and for a time a rock band took the moniker as its name.[32]
Martin's show soon required full-sized stadiums for the audiences he was drawing. Concerned about his visibility in venues on such a scale, Martin began to wear a distinctivethree-piece white suit that became a trademark for his act.[33] Martin stopped doing stand-up comedy in 1981 to concentrate on movies and did not return for thirty-five years.[13] About the decision, he said, "My act was conceptual. Once the concept was stated, and everybody understood it, it was done... It was about coming to the end of the road. There was no way to live on in that persona. I had to take that fabulous luck of not being remembered as that, exclusively. You know, I didn't announce that I was stopping. I just stopped."[34]
In 2016, Martin made a low-key comeback to live comedy, opening forJerry Seinfeld. He performed a ten-minute stand-up routine before turning the stage over to Seinfeld.[35] Also in 2016 he staged a national tour withMartin Short and theSteep Canyon Rangers, which yielded a 2018 Netflix comedy special,Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.[36] The special received fourPrimetime Emmy Award nominations with Martin receiving two nominations forOutstanding Writing for a Variety Special andOutstanding Music and Lyrics for "The Buddy Song".
By the end of the 1970s, Martin had acquired the kind of following normally reserved for rock stars, with his tour appearances typically occurring at sold-out arenas filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans. But unknown to his audience, stand-up comedy was "just an accident" for him; his real goal was to get into film.[19]
Martin had a small role in the 1972 filmAnother Nice Mess. In 1974, he starred in the Canadian travelogue productionThe Funnier Side of Eastern Canada, created to promote tourism in Montreal and Toronto, which also included standup segments filmed at the Ice House in Pasadena, California.[37] His first substantial film appearance was in ashort titledThe Absent-Minded Waiter (1977). The seven-minute-long film, also featuringBuck Henry andTeri Garr, was written by and starred Martin. The film was nominated for anAcademy Award asBest Short Film, Live Action. He made his first substantial feature film appearance in the musicalSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, where he sangThe Beatles' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".
In 1979, Martin starred in the comedy filmThe Jerk, directed byCarl Reiner, and written by Martin, Michael Elias, andCarl Gottlieb. The film was a huge success, grossing over $100 million on a budget of approximately $4 million.[38]
Stanley Kubrick met with him to discuss the possibility of Martin starring in a screwball comedy version ofTraumnovelle (Kubrick later changed his approach to the material, the result of which was 1999'sEyes Wide Shut). Martin was executive producer forDomestic Life, a prime-time television series starring friendMartin Mull, and a late-night series calledTwilight Theater. It emboldened Martin to try his hand at his first serious film,Pennies from Heaven (1981), based on the1978 BBC serial byDennis Potter. He was anxious to perform in the movie because of his desire to avoid beingtypecast. To prepare for that film, Martin took acting lessons from directorHerbert Ross and spent months learning how totap dance. The film was a financial failure; Martin's comment at the time was "I don't know what to blame, other than it's me and not a comedy."[39]
Martin was in three more Reiner-directed comedies afterThe Jerk:Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid in 1982,The Man with Two Brains in 1983 andAll of Me in 1984, his most critically acclaimed performance up to that point.[40][41][42] Martin was by now requesting almost $3 million per film, butPlaid andTwo Brains both failed at the box office likePennies, endangering his young career.[43] In 1986, Martin joined fellowSaturday Night Live veteransMartin Short andChevy Chase in¡Three Amigos!, directed byJohn Landis, and written by Martin,Lorne Michaels, and singer-songwriterRandy Newman. It was originally entitledThe ThreeCaballeros and Martin was to be teamed withDan Aykroyd andJohn Belushi. In 1986, Martin was in the movie musicalfilm version of the hitOff-Broadway playLittle Shop of Horrors (based on a famousB-movie), playing the sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello. The film was the first of three films teaming Martin withRick Moranis. In 1987, Martin joined comedianJohn Candy in theJohn Hughes moviePlanes, Trains and Automobiles.[44] That same year, Martin starred inRoxanne, the film adaptation ofCyrano de Bergerac, which he co-wrote and won him aWriters Guild of America Award. It also garnered recognition from Hollywood and the public that he was more than a comedian. In 1988, he performed in theFrank Oz filmDirty Rotten Scoundrels, a remake ofBedtime Story, alongsideMichael Caine. Also in 1988, he appeared at theMitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center in a revival ofWaiting for Godot directed by Mike Nichols.[45] He playedVladimir, withRobin Williams asEstragon andBill Irwin as Lucky. Martin starred in theRon Howard filmParenthood with Rick Moranis in 1989.
He later re-teamed with Moranis in theMafia comedyMy Blue Heaven (1990). In 1991, Martin starred in and wroteL.A. Story, a romantic comedy, in which the female lead was played by his then-wifeVictoria Tennant. Martin also appeared inLawrence Kasdan'sGrand Canyon, in which he played the tightly wound Hollywood film producer, Davis, who was recovering from a traumatic robbery that left him injured, which was a more serious role for him. Martin also starred in a remake of the comedyFather of the Bride in 1991 (followed by asequel in 1995) and in the 1992 comedyHousesitter, withGoldie Hawn andDana Delany. In 1994, he starred inA Simple Twist of Fate; a film adaptation ofSilas Marner.
InDavid Mamet's 1997 thrillerThe Spanish Prisoner, Martin played a darker role as a wealthy stranger who takes a suspicious interest in the work of a young businessman (Campbell Scott). In 1998, Martin guest starred withU2 in the 200th episode ofThe Simpsons titled "Trash of the Titans", providing the voice for sanitation commissioner Ray Patterson, and also voiced Hotep in the animated filmThe Prince of Egypt.
In 1999, Martin and Hawn starred in a remake of the 1970Neil Simon comedy,The Out-of-Towners, and Martin went on to star withEddie Murphy in the comedyBowfinger, which he also wrote. He also appeared in Disney'sFantasia 2000 to introduce the segmentPines of Rome, along withItzhak Perlman.[46]
By 2003, Martin ranked fourth on the box office stars list, after starring inBringing Down the House (2003) andCheaper by the Dozen (2003), each of which earned over $130 million at U.S. theaters. That same year, he also played the villainous Mr. Chairman in the animation/live action blend,Looney Tunes: Back in Action. In 2005, Martin wrote and starred inShopgirl, based on his own novella (2000), and starred inCheaper by the Dozen 2. In 2006, he starred in the box office hitThe Pink Panther, as the bumblingInspector Clouseau. He reprised the role in 2009'sThe Pink Panther 2. When combined, the two films grossed over $230 million at the box office.
In the comedyBaby Mama (2008), starringTina Fey andAmy Poehler, Martin played the founder of a health food company. Martin also appeared as a guest star in30 Rock as Gavin Volure in the episodeGavin Volure. He was nominated for anOutstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. The following year he starred inNancy Meyers' romantic comedyIt's Complicated (2009), oppositeMeryl Streep andAlec Baldwin. In 2009, an article inThe Guardian listed Martin as one of the best actors never to receive an Oscar nomination.[47]
During the 2010s, Martin sparsely appeared in film and television. In 2011, he appeared withJack Black,Owen Wilson, andJoBeth Williams in the birdwatching comedyThe Big Year directed byDavid Frankel. The film was criticized for its lightweight story and was a box office bomb. After a three-year hiatus, Martin returned in 2015 when he voiced the villainous Captain Smek in theDreamWorks animated filmHome alongsideJim Parsons andRihanna. The film received mixed critical reception but was a financial success. In 2016, he played a supporting role inAng Lee's war dramaBilly Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. He also appeared as himself inJerry Seinfeld's Netflix seriesComedians in Cars Getting Coffee in 2016. He also appeared in the taped version ofOh, Hello on Broadway (2017) as the guest. He also starred in theNetflix comedy specialAn Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life withMartin Short in 2018.
In 2020, Martin reprised his role as George Banks in the shortFather of the Bride, Part 3(ish). Martin is an executive producer ofOnly Murders in the Building, aHulu comedy series in which he stars withMartin Short andSelena Gomez, and which he created alongsideJohn Hoffman.[48][49] In August 2022, Martin revealed that the series will likely be his final role, as he does not intend to seek out roles or cameos for other shows or films once the series ends.[50]
Martin's first book wasCruel Shoes, a collection of comedic short stories and essays. It was published in 1979 byG. P. Putnam's Sons after a limited release of a truncated version in 1977.
Throughout the 1990s, Martin wrote various pieces forThe New Yorker. In 2002, he adapted theCarl Sternheim playThe Underpants, which ranOff Broadway atClassic Stage Company, and in 2008 co-wrote and producedTraitor, starringDon Cheadle. He has also written the novellasShopgirl (2000) andThe Pleasure of My Company (2003), both more wry in tone than raucous.[51] A story of a 28-year-old woman behind the glove counter at theSaks Fifth Avenue department store inBeverly Hills,Shopgirl wasmade into a film starring Martin andClaire Danes.[51] The film premiered at theToronto International Film Festival in September 2005 and was featured at theChicago International Film Festival and theAustin Film Festival before going into limited release in the US. In 2007, he published a memoir,Born Standing Up, whichTime magazine named as one of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007, ranking it atNo. 6, and praising it as "a funny, moving, surprisingly frank memoir."[52] In 2010, he published the novelAn Object of Beauty.[53]
Beginning in 2019, Martin has collaborated with cartoonistHarry Bliss as a writer for the syndicated single-panel comicBliss.[54][55] Together, they published the cartoon collectionA Wealth of Pigeons.[56] In 2022, they collaborated again for Martin's illustrated autobiography,Number One is Walking.[57]
In 1993, Martin wrote his first full-length play,Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The first reading of the play took place inBeverly Hills, California at his home, withTom Hanks reading the role ofPablo Picasso andChris Sarandon reading the role ofAlbert Einstein. Following this, the play opened at theSteppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, and played from October 1993 to May 1994, then went on to run successfully in Los Angeles, New York City, and several other US cities.[58] In 2009, the school board inLa Grande, Oregon, refused to allow the play to be performed after several parents complained about the content. In an open letter in the localObserver newspaper, Martin wrote:
I have heard that some in your community have characterized the play as 'people drinking in bars, and treating women as sex objects.' With apologies to William Shakespeare, this is like callingHamlet a play about a castle [...] I will finance a non-profit, off-high school campus production [...] so that individuals, outside the jurisdiction of the school board but within the guarantees of freedom of expression provided by the Constitution of the United States can determine whether they will or will not see the play.[59]
Inspired byLove has Come for You, Martin and Edie Brickell collaborated on his first musical,Bright Star. It is set in theBlue Ridge Mountains ofNorth Carolina in 1945–46, with flashbacks to 1923. Themusical debuted onBroadway on March 24, 2016.[60]Charles Isherwood ofThe New York Times praised its score by Martin and Brickell writing, "The shining achievement of the musical is its winsome country and bluegrass score, with music by Mr. Martin and Ms. Brickell, and lyrics by Ms. Brickell...the songs — yearning ballads and square-dance romps rich with fiddle, piano, and banjo, beautifully played by a nine-person band — provide a buoyancy that keeps the momentum from stalling."[61] The musical went on to receive fiveTony Award nominations includingBest Musical. Martin himself received Tony nominations forBest Book of a Musical andBest Original Score and received theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and the Outstanding Critics Circle Award for Best New Score. He also received aGrammy Award forBest Musical Theater Album.
Martin's next work as a playwright was the comic playMeteor Shower which opened atSan Diego'sOld Globe Theatre in August 2016,[62] and went on toConnecticut'sLong Wharf Theatre later the same year.[63] The play opened on Broadway at theBooth Theater on November 29, 2017. The cast featuresAmy Schumer,Laura Benanti, Jeremy Shamos andKeegan-Michael Key, with direction byJerry Zaks.[64][65] Critic Allison Adaot ofEntertainment Weekly wrote, "Meteor Shower is a very funny play. Keening-like-a-howler-monkey funny. Design-a-new-cry-laughing-emoji funny...In the confident hands of writer and comedy maestro Steve Martin, the premise is polished to sparkling."[66]
Martin hosted theAcademy Awards solo in2001 and2003, and withAlec Baldwin in2010.[67] In 2020, Martin opened the92nd Academy Awards alongsideChris Rock with comedy material. They were not previously announced as that year's hosts, and joked after their opening monolog, "Well we've had a great time not hosting tonight".
In 2005, Martin co-hostedDisneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, marking the park's anniversary. Disney continued to run the show until March 2009, which now[when?] plays in the lobby ofGreat Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
A fan ofMonty Python, in 1989 Martin hosted the television special,Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python.[68][69]
Martin first picked up the banjo when he was around 17 years of age. Martin has stated in several interviews and in his memoir,Born Standing Up, that he used to take 33 rpmbluegrass records and slow them down to 16 rpm and tune his banjo down, so the notes would sound the same. Martin was able to pick out each note and perfect his playing.[citation needed] Martin learned how to play the banjo with help fromJohn McEuen, who later joined theNitty Gritty Dirt Band. McEuen's brother later managed Martin as well as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Martin performed his stand-up routine opening for the band in the early 1970s. He had the band play on his hit song "King Tut", being credited as "The Toot Uncommons" (as inTutankhamun).[citation needed] The banjo was a staple of Martin's 1970s stand-up career, and he periodically poked fun at his love for the instrument.[20] On theComedy Is Not Pretty! album, he included an all-instrumental jam, titled "Drop Thumb Medley", and played the track on his 1979 concert tour. His final comedy album,The Steve Martin Brothers (1981), featured one side of Martin's typical stand-up material, with the other side featuring live performances of Steve playing banjo with a bluegrass band.
In 2001, he played banjo onEarl Scruggs's remake of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". The recording was the winner of theBest Country Instrumental Performance category at theGrammy Awards of 2002. In 2008, Martin appeared with the band, In the Minds of the Living, during a show inMyrtle Beach, South Carolina.[70] In 2009, Martin released his first all-music album,The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo with appearances from stars such asDolly Parton.[71] The album won theGrammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2010.[72] Nitty Gritty Dirt Band member John McEuen produced the album. Martin made his first appearance on TheGrand Ole Opry on May 30, 2009.[73] In theAmerican Idol season eight finals, he performed alongsideMichael Sarver and Megan Joy in the song "Pretty Flowers". Martin is featured playing banjo on "I Hate Love" fromKelly Clarkson's tenth studio albumChemistry. It was released as a promotional single on June 2, 2023.[74]
Alison Brown co-wroteFoggy Morning Breaking[75] with Martin in 2023, andWall Guitar in 2024.
In June 2009, Martin played banjo along with theSteep Canyon Rangers onA Prairie Home Companion and began a two-month U.S. tour with the Rangers in September, including appearances at theHardly Strictly Bluegrass festival,Carnegie Hall andBenaroya Hall inSeattle.[76][77] In November, they went on to play at theRoyal Festival Hall in London with support fromMary Black.[78] In 2010, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers appeared at theNew Orleans Jazzfest, Merlefest Bluegrass Festival inWilkesboro, North Carolina, atBonnaroo Music Festival, at the ROMP[79] Bluegrass Festival inOwensboro, Kentucky, at theRed Butte Garden Concert series,[80] and on the BBC'sLater... with Jools Holland.[81] Martin performed "Jubilation Day" with the Steep Canyon Rangers onThe Colbert Report on March 21, 2011, onConan on May 3, 2011, and on BBC'sThe One Show on July 6, 2011.[82] Martin performed a song he wrote called "Me and Paul Revere"[83] in addition to two other songs on the lawn of theCapitol Building in Washington, D.C., at the "Capitol Fourth Celebration" on July 4, 2011.[84] While on tour, Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers occasionally performed Martin's 1978 novelty hit song "King Tut" live in a bluegrass arrangement. One of these performances was released on the 2011 albumRare Bird Alert.[85] In 2011, Martin also narrated and appeared in thePBS documentary "Give Me The Banjo" chronicling the history of the banjo in America.[86]
Love Has Come for You, a collaboration album withEdie Brickell, was released in April 2013.[87] The two made musical guest appearances on talk shows, such asThe View andLate Show with David Letterman, to promote the album.[88][89][90]The title track won theGrammy Award for Best American Roots Song.[91]Starting in May 2013, he began a tour with theSteep Canyon Rangers and Edie Brickell throughout the United States.[92] In 2015, Brickell and Martin releasedSo Familiar as the second installment of their partnership.[93] In 2017, Martin and Brickell appeared in the multi-award-winning documentary filmThe American Epic Sessions directed byBernard MacMahon. Recording livedirect-to-disc on the firstelectrical sound recording system from the 1920s,[94] they performed a version of "The Coo Coo Bird" a traditional song that Martin learned from the 1960s folk music groupThe Holy Modal Rounders.[95] The song was featured on the film soundtrack,Music from The American Epic Sessions released on June 9, 2017.[94]
In 2010, Martin created the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, an award established to reward artistry and bring greater visibility to bluegrass performers.[96] The prize includes a US$50,000 cash award, a bronze sculpture created by the artistEric Fischl, and a chance to perform with Martin onLate Show with David Letterman. Recipients includeNoam Pikelny of thePunch Brothers band (2010),[97]Sammy Shelor ofLonesome River Band (2011),[98]Mark Johnson (2012),[99][100]Jens Kruger (2013),[101]Eddie Adcock (2014),[102]Danny Barnes (2015),Rhiannon Giddens (2016),Scott Vestal (2017),Kristin Scott Benson (2018),[103] and Victor Furtado (2019).[104]
At the beginning of his career in comedy, Martin dated writer and artistEve Babitz, who suggested he dress in what became his trademark white suit.[105] From 1977 to 1980, Martin was in a relationship withBernadette Peters, with whom he co-starred inThe Jerk andPennies from Heaven. He also datedKaren Carpenter,Mary Tyler Moore andAnne Heche, who wrote about their relationship in her memoir.[106] On November 20, 1986, Martin married actressVictoria Tennant, with whom he co-starred inAll of Me andL.A. Story. They divorced in 1994.[107]
Martin went on a USO Tour toSaudi Arabia duringOperation Desert Storm from October 14 to 21, 1990. He met with military service men and women all over the region signing thousands of autographs and posing for pictures.[108] "Everybody coming out here, giving up part of their lives for this effort. I had some time off, and I felt kind of bad just sitting there," Martin said, "so I came."[109]
On July 28, 2007, Martin married writer and formerNew Yorker staff member Anne Stringfield.[110]Bob Kerrey presided over the ceremony at Martin's Los Angeles home.Lorne Michaels served as best man.[110] The nuptials came as a surprise to several guests, who had been told they were coming for a party.[110] In December 2012, Martin became a father when Stringfield gave birth to their daughter.[111][112]
Martin has been an avidart collector since 1968, when he bought a print byEd Ruscha.[113] In 2001, theBellagio Gallery of Fine Art presented a five-month exhibit of twenty-eight items from Martin's collection, including works byRoy Lichtenstein,Pablo Picasso,David Hockney, andEdward Hopper.[114] In 2006, he sold Hopper'sHotel Window (1955)[115] atSotheby's for $26.8 million.[116] In 2015, working with two other curators, he organized an exhibition at theMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston and several other locations called, "The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris," featuring the works of Canadian painter andGroup of Seven co-founderLawren Harris.[117]
In July 2004, Martin purchased what he believed to beLandschaft mit Pferden (Landscape with Horses), a 1915 work byHeinrich Campendonk, from a Paris gallery for approximately €700,000. Fifteen months later, he sold the painting at aChristie's auction to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000. The painting was later discovered to be a forgery. Police believe the fake Campendonk originated from a collection devised by a Germanforgery ring led byWolfgang Beltracchi, pieces from which had been sold to French galleries.[118] Martin only discovered the fact that the painting had been fake many years after it had been sold at the auction. Concerning the experience, Martin said that the Beltracchis "were quite clever in that they gave it a long provenance and they faked labels, and it came out of a collection that mingled legitimate pictures with faked pictures."[119][120]
Martin was on theLos Angeles County Museum of Art board of trustees from 1984 to 2004.[121] Martin assisted in launching the National Endowment for Indigenous Visual Arts (NEIVA), a fund to supportAustralian Indigenous artists in 2021. Martin has supported Indigenous Australian painting previously. He organized an exhibition in 2019 withGagosian Gallery titled "Desert Painters of Australia", which featured art by George Tjungurrayi andEmily Kame Kngwarreye.[122]
Martin hastinnitus; the condition was first attributed to filming a pistol shooting scene forThree Amigos in 1986,[123][124] but Martin later clarified that the tinnitus was actually from years of listening to loud music and performing in front of noisy crowds.[125]
Martin has said that his comedy influences includeCharlie Chaplin,Laurel and Hardy,Jack Benny,Jerry Lewis, andWoody Allen.[126][127]
OnThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he mentioned thatJerry Seinfeld is one of his "retro heroes", "a guy who came up behind me and is better than I am. I think he's fantastic, I love to listen to him, he almost puts me at peace. I love to listen to him talk".[128]
Martin's offbeat, ironic, and deconstructive style of humor has influenced many comedians during his career includingTina Fey,Steve Carell,Conan O'Brien,Jon Stewart,[129]Stephen Colbert,Robert Smigel,Bo Burnham,[130] andJordan Peele.[131] Singer and composerMike Patton cited Steve Martin as being an early influence[132] saying that he identifies with Martin.[133]
Martin has received several accolades including anAcademy Honorary Award, anEmmy Award, fiveGrammy Awards, and aScreen Actors Guild Award, as well as nominations for eightGolden Globe Awards and twoTony Awards.The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received anAcademy Award nomination.[134]
| Album | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications [135] | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard 200 [136] | US Bluegrass [137] | ||||
| Let's Get Small | 1977 | 10 | — |
| Comedy |
| A Wild and Crazy Guy | 1978 | 2 | — |
| |
| Comedy Is Not Pretty! | 1979 | 25 | — |
| |
| The Steve Martin Brothers | 1981 | 135 | — | ||
| The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo | 2009 | 93 | 1 | Music | |
| Rare Bird Alert[138] (withSteep Canyon Rangers) | 2011 | 43 | 1 | ||
| Love Has Come for You[139] (withEdie Brickell) | 2013 | 21 | 1 | ||
| Live (with Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell) | 2014 | — | 1 | ||
| So Familiar (with Edie Brickell)[140] | 2015 | 126 | 1 | ||
| The Long-Awaited Album[141] (with Steep Canyon Rangers) | 2017 | 189 | 1 | ||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart. | |||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions US [142] | Album | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Grandmother's Song" | 1977 | 72 | Let's Get Small | Comedy |
| "King Tut" | 1978 | 17 | A Wild and Crazy Guy | Music |
| "Cruel Shoes" | 1979 | 91 | Comedy Is Not Pretty | Comedy |
| "Bluegrass Radio" (withAlison Brown featuringSam Bush,Stuart Duncan,Trey Hensley, andTodd Phillips) | 2024 | — | Non-album single | Music |
| Video | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| "Jubilation Day"[143] | 2011 | Ryan Reichenfeld |
| "Pretty Little One"[144] | 2014 | David Horn |
| "Won't Go Back"[145] (withEdie Brickell) | 2015 | Matt Robertson |
| "Caroline" | 2017 | Brian Petchers |
| "So Familiar" | 2018 | Laurence Jacobs |
| "Promontory Point" | ||
| "Bluegrass Radio" (with Alison Brown featuring Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Trey Hensley, and Todd Phillips) | 2024 | — |
 |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Cruel Shoes | collection of essays and short stories, first widely published in 1979 |
| 1993 | Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays: Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the Zig-Zag Woman, Patter for the Floating Lady, WASP | plays |
| 1998 | Pure Drivel | collection of essays and short stories |
| 2000 | Shopgirl | novella |
| 2001 | Kindly Lent Their Owner: The Private Collection of Steve Martin | nonfiction |
| 2002 | The Underpants: A Play | play |
| 2003 | The Pleasure of My Company | novel |
| 2005 | The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z | children's book |
| 2007 | Born Standing Up | nonfiction |
| 2010 | An Object of Beauty | novel |
| Late for School | children's book | |
| 2012 | The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People. Make That Ten.: The Tweets of Steve Martin | collection of tweets |
| 2014 | Bright Star | musical withEdie Brickell |
| 2016 | Meteor Shower | play |
| 2020 | A Wealth of Pigeons | collection of cartoons withHarry Bliss |
| 2022 | Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions | memoir with illustrations by Harry Bliss |
| 2023 | So Many Steves: Afternoons with Steve Martin | audiobook cowritten withAdam Gopnik |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | The Absent-Minded Waiter | short film |
| 1979 | The Jerk | withMichael Elias andCarl Gottlieb |
| 1982 | Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid | withCarl Reiner andGeorge Gipe |
| 1983 | The Man with Two Brains | withCarl Reiner andGeorge Gipe |
| 1986 | Three Amigos | withLorne Michaels andRandy Newman |
| 1987 | Roxanne | based onCyrano de Bergerac byEdmond Rostand |
| 1991 | L.A. Story | screenplay first published in 1987 withRoxanne asTwo Screenplays |
| 1994 | A Simple Twist of Fate | based on the 1861 novelSilas Marner byGeorge Eliot |
| 1999 | Bowfinger | |
| 2005 | Shopgirl | based on his novella of the same name |
| 2006 | The Pink Panther | withLen Blum |
| 2008 | Traitor | story only; withJeffrey Nachmanoff |
| 2009 | The Pink Panther 2 | withScott Neustadter andMichael H. Weber |
There was this great French photographer, Henri Lartigue. He took pictures of Paris in the 20s. All his people wore white. I showed his photographs to Steve. 'You've got to look like this,' I said.
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
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