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Steve Martin Biography

(1945–)

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Related Works

Films
2009 The Pink Panther 2
2008 Baby Mama
2006 The Pink Panther

2005 Cheaper by the Dozen 2
2005 Shopgirl
2003 Cheaper by the Dozen
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action
2003 Bringing Down the House
2001 Novocaine
2000 Joe Gould's Secret
1999 Bowfinger
1999 The Out-of-Towners
1998 The Prince of Egypt
1997 The Spanish Prisoner
1996 Sgt. Bilko
1995 Father of the Bride Part II
1994 Mixed Nuts
1994 A Simple Twist of Fate
1992 Leap of Faith
1992 House Sitter
1991 Grand Canyon
1991 Father of the Bride
1991 L.A. Story
1990 My Blue Heaven
1989 Parenthood
1988 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
1987 Planes, Trains & Automobiles
1987 Roxanne
1986 Little Shop of Horrors
1986 ¡Three Amigos!
1985 Movers & Shakers
1984 All of Me
1984 The Lonely Guy
1983 The Man with Two Brains
1982 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1981 Pennies from Heaven
1979 The Jerk
1979 The Muppet Movie
1978 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1977 The Absent-Minded Waiter
Books
2007 The Alphabet from A to Y With Bonus Letter Z!
2007 Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
2003 The Pleasure of My Company
2001 Kindly Lent By Their Owner: The Private Collection of Steve Martin
2000 Shopgirl
1998 Pure Drivel
1996 Wasp, A Play in One Act
1979 Cruel Shoes

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Actor, comedian, writer, playwright and producer. Steve Martin was born August 14, 1945, in Waco, Texas, the son of a real estate executive. When he was five, Martin and his family moved from Waco to Inglewood, California, and then to Garden Grove, California, when he was 10.

As a teenager, he sold guidebooks and performed magic tricks at Disneyland and at Knotts Berry Farm. He enrolled in Long Beach State College to study philosophy, but soon transferred to the theater program at the University of California, Los Angeles. He left college altogether to be a comedy writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967-68), winning an Emmy Award in 1969.

Martin performed stand-up comedy in local clubs, wrote for the Sonny and Cher Show (1972-73), and had the first of his many appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Martin's big break came when he was guest host on NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1977. His offbeat and irreverent humor made him an instant celebrity.

Martin released four comedy albums between 1977 and 1981, winning Grammy awards for Let's Get Small and A Wild and Crazy Guy. He also received a gold record for his hit comedy song, "King Tut." Martin wrote his first book Cruel Shoes, in 1977.

Steve Martin's first feature, a short film he wrote called The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977), was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1979, he starred in his first full-length feature film, The Jerk, the first of many collaborations between Martin and director Carl Reiner, including the lampoon of detective thrillers, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), the sci-fi comedy The Man With Two Brains (1983), and the identity-swapping comedy All of Me (1984) with Lily Tomlin. Martin received Best Actor awards from both the New York Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review for his performance in All of Me. He also won rave reviews for his portrayal of a demented dentist in Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors (1986).

In 1987, Martin stretched his talent even further by co-writing, executive-producing, and starring in Roxanne (1987), a modern interpretation of the story of Cyrano De Bergerac. For his work in Roxanne he won a Best Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as well as an award for Best Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America. In 1991, Martin wrote, starred in and co-executive produced L.A. Story co-starring actress Victoria Tennant, whom he later married, in 1986 (they later divorced in 1994). Martin also starred in the Disney remake of Father of the Bride (1992), and it's sequel in 1995.

In 1993, Martin had success as a playwright with Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which opened at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, moving to Boston and Los Angeles as well as running off-Broadway.

More recent work included David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner (1997), a voice role in the animated Dreamworks film The Prince of Egypt (1998) and a co-starring role with Goldie Hawn in a remake of The Out of Towners (1999). Martin wrote and starred in the comedy Bowfinger with Eddie Murphy in 1999. In 2001, he starred opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the dark comedy Novocaine. That same year, he took on a new challenge, hosting the notoriously long Academy Awards ceremony. His trademark humor and antics earned him an invitation to return in 2003.