Steve Martin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the entertainer. For other people named Steve Martin, see Steve Martin (disambiguation).

Steve Martin
Improvisational comedy
  • musical comedy
  • physical comedy
  • sketch comedy
  • word play
  • satire
    • Subject(s)
    Spouse
    • ​
      ​
      (m. 1986; div. 1994)​
    • Anne Stringfield
      ​
      (m. 2007)​
    Children1
    Signature
    Warner Bros.
    Websitestevemartin.com

    Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for

    Academy Award nomination.[3]

    Martin first came to public notice as a writer for

    Primetime Emmy Award in 1969, and later as a frequent host on Saturday Night Live. He became one of the most popular U.S. stand-up comedians during the 1970s, performing his brand of offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before sold-out theaters on national tours. Martin went on to star in film roles, including such films as The 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) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). He played family patriarchs in Parenthood (1989), the Father of the Bride films (1991–1995), and the Cheaper by the Dozen
    films (2003–2005).

    Since 2015, Martin has embarked on several national comedy tours with fellow comedian

    Peabody Award
    nomination. In 2022, Martin and Short co-hosted Saturday Night Live together with Gomez making an appearance.

    Martin is also known for writing the books to the musical

    Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance in 2002. His first solo music album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo (2009) received the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.[5]

    Early life and education

    Steve Martin as a senior in high school, 1963

    Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945[6][7] in Waco, Texas,[8] the son of Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913–2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914–1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor.[9][10] He has an older sister, Melinda.[11]

    Martin is of

    Baptist family.[12] Steve was a cheerleader at Garden Grove High School.[13] One of his earliest memories is seeing his father, as an extra serving drinks onstage at the Callboard Theater on Melrose Place in West Hollywood, California. During World War II, in the United Kingdom, his father appeared in a production of Our Town with Raymond Massey. Expressing his affection through gifts like cars and bikes, Steve's father was stern and not emotionally open to his son.[14] He was proud but critical, with Steve later recalling that in his teens his feelings for his father were mostly of hatred.[15]

    Steve Martin's first job was at Disneyland, selling guidebooks on weekends and full-time during his school's summer break. The work lasted for three years (1955–1958). During his free time, he frequented the Main Street Magic shop, where tricks were demonstrated to patrons.[14] While working at Disneyland, he was captured in the background of the home movie that was made into the short-subject film Disneyland 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 in Fantasyland in August. There he perfected his talents for magic, juggling, and creating balloon animals in the manner of mentor Wally Boag,[16] frequently performing for tips.[17]

    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".[18] In his early 20s, Martin dated Melissa Trumbo, daughter of novelist and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.

    After high school, Martin attended

    UCLA, about an hour's drive north, and the distance eventually caused them to lead separate lives.[19]

    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 about

    non-sequitur so hard away from the things that set it up.[20]

    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.[21]

    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.[22]

    In 1967, Martin transferred to

    UCLA and switched his major to theater. While attending college, he appeared in an episode of The Dating Game, winning a date with Deana Martin. Martin began working local clubs at night, to mixed notices, and at twenty-one, he dropped out of college.[23]

    Career

    Stand-up comedy

    Late night

    In 1967, his former girlfriend Nina Goldblatt, a dancer on

    The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (who returned the favor by appearing in his 1980 television special All Commercials), The Carpenters, and Toto. He appeared at The Boarding House, among other venues. He continued to write, earning an Emmy nomination for his work on Van Dyke and Company
    in 1976.

    In the mid-1970s, Martin made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,[21] and on The Gong Show, HBO's On Location, The Muppet Show,[28] and NBC's Saturday 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.[14] Martin has appeared on twenty-seven Saturday Night Live shows and guest-hosted sixteen times, second only to Alec Baldwin, who has hosted seventeen times as of February 2017. On the show, Martin popularized the air quotes gesture.[29] While on the show, Martin grew close to several cast members, including Gilda Radner. On the night she died of ovarian cancer, a visibly shaken Martin hosted SNL and featured footage of himself and Radner together in a 1978 sketch.

    Comedy albums

    Steve Martin, 1976

    In the 1970s, his television appearances led to the release of comedy albums that went

    Grammys for Best 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.[31]

    On his comedy albums, Martin's stand-up is self-referential and sometimes

    venereal disease, and the "controversial" kitten juggling (he is a master juggler; the "kittens" were stuffed animal toys). His style is off-kilter and ironic and sometimes pokes fun at stand-up comedy traditions, such as Martin opening his act (from A 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."[29][32] In one comedy routine, used on the Comedy 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.[33]

    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 distinctive

    three-piece white suit that became a trademark for his act.[34] Martin stopped doing stand-up comedy in 1981 to concentrate on movies and did not return for thirty-five years.[14] 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."[35]

    Return to standup

    In 2016, Martin made a low-key comeback to live comedy, opening for

    Primetime Emmy Award nominations with Martin receiving two nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special and Outstanding Music and Lyrics
    for "The Buddy Song".

    Acting career

    Martin in 1982

    1970s

    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.[20]

    Martin had a small role in the 1972 film Another Nice Mess. In 1974, he starred in the Canadian travelogue production The 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.[38] His first substantial film appearance was in a short titled The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977). The seven-minute-long film, also featuring Buck Henry and Teri Garr, was written by and starred Martin. The film was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Film, Live Action. He made his first substantial feature film appearance in the musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, where he sang The Beatles' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".

    In 1979, Martin starred in the comedy film The Jerk, directed by Carl Reiner, and written by Martin, Michael Elias, and Carl Gottlieb. The film was a huge success, grossing over $100 million on a budget of approximately $4 million.[39]

    typecast. To prepare for that film, Martin took acting lessons from director Herbert Ross and spent months learning how to tap 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."[40]

    1980s

    Martin was in three more Reiner-directed comedies after The Jerk:

    Vladimir, with Robin Williams as Estragon and Bill Irwin as Lucky. Martin starred in the Ron Howard film Parenthood
    with Rick Moranis in 1989.

    1990s

    He later re-teamed with Moranis in the

    Housesitter, with Goldie Hawn and Dana Delany. In 1994, he starred in A Simple Twist of Fate; a film adaptation of Silas Marner
    .

    In David Mamet's 1997 thriller The 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). He went on to star with Eddie Murphy in the 1999 comedy Bowfinger, which Martin also wrote.

    In 1998, Martin guest starred with U2 in the 200th episode of The Simpsons titled "Trash of the Titans", providing the voice for sanitation commissioner Ray Patterson. In 1999, Martin and Hawn starred in a remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy, The Out-of-Towners.

    2000s

    By 2003, Martin ranked fourth on the box office stars list, after starring in Bringing Down the House (2003) and Cheaper 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 in Shopgirl, based on his own novella (2000), and starred in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. In 2006, he starred in the box office hit The Pink Panther, as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. He reprised the role in 2009's The Pink Panther 2. When combined, the two films grossed over $230 million at the box office.

    In the comedy

    30 Rock as Gavin Volure in the episode Gavin Volure. He was nominated for an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. The following year he starred in Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy It's Complicated (2009), opposite Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. In 2009, an article in The Guardian listed Martin as one of the best actors never to receive an Oscar nomination.[47]

    2010s

    Martin with David Letterman at the Peabody Awards in 2016

    During the 2010s, Martin sparsely appeared in film and television. In 2011, he appeared with

    Oh, Hello on Broadway (2017) as the guest. He also starred in the Netflix comedy special An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life with Martin Short
    in 2018.

    2020s

    In 2020, Martin reprised his role as George Banks in the short Father of the Bride, Part 3(ish). Martin stars in and is an executive producer of Only Murders in the Building, a Hulu comedy series alongside Martin Short and Selena Gomez, which he created alongside John 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]

    Writing

    Books

    Martin's first book was Cruel Shoes, a collection of comedic short stories and essays. It was published in 1979 by G. P. Putnam's Sons after a limited release of a truncated version in 1977.

    Throughout the 1990s, Martin wrote various pieces for

    Beverly Hills, Shopgirl was made into a film starring Martin and Claire Danes.[51] The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2005 and was featured at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival before going into limited release in the US. In 2007, he published a memoir, Born Standing Up, which Time magazine named as one of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007, ranking it at No. 6, and praising it as "a funny, moving, surprisingly frank memoir."[52] In 2010, he published the novel An Object of Beauty.[53]

    Beginning in 2019, Martin has collaborated with cartoonist Harry Bliss as a writer for the syndicated single-panel comic Bliss.[54][55] Together, they published the cartoon collection A Wealth of Pigeons.[56] In 2022, they collaborated again for Martin's illustrated autobiography, Number One is Walking.[57]

    Plays

    Tribeca Film Festival

    In 1993, Martin wrote his first full-length play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The first reading of the play took place in Beverly Hills, California at his home, with Tom Hanks reading the role of Pablo Picasso and Chris Sarandon reading the role of Albert Einstein. Following this, the play opened at the Steppenwolf 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 in La Grande, Oregon, refused to allow the play to be performed after several parents complained about the content. In an open letter in the local Observer 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 calling Hamlet 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]

    Broadway

    Inspired by Love has Come for You, Martin and Edie Brickell collaborated on his first musical,

    Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album
    .

    Martin's next work as a playwright was the comic play

    Booth Theater on November 29, 2017. The cast features Amy Schumer, Laura Benanti, Jeremy Shamos and Keegan-Michael Key, with direction by Jerry Zaks.[64][65] Critic Allison Adaot of Entertainment 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]

    Hosting

    Martin hosted the Academy Awards solo in 2001 and 2003, and with Alec Baldwin in 2010.[67] In 2020, Martin opened the 92nd Academy Awards alongside Chris Rock with comedy material. They were not previously announced as that year's hosts, and joked after their opening monologue, "Well we've had a great time not hosting tonight".

    In 2005, Martin co-hosted Disneyland: 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 of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

    A fan of Monty Python, in 1989 Martin hosted the television special, Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python.[68][69]

    Music career

    Banjo music

    Martin playing with the Steep Canyon Rangers in Seattle in November 2009

    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 rpm bluegrass 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 from John McEuen, who later joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. McEuen's brother later managed Martin as well as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Martin did 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 in Tutankhamun).[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.[21] On the Comedy 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 on

    American Idol season eight finals, he performed alongside Michael Sarver and Megan Joy in the song "Pretty Flowers". Martin is featured playing banjo on "I Hate Love" from Kelly Clarkson's tenth studio album Chemistry . It was released as a promotional single on June 2, 2023.[74]

    Steep Canyon Rangers

    Steve Martin at MerleFest in 2010

    In June 2009, Martin played banjo along with the Steep Canyon Rangers on A Prairie Home Companion and began a two-month U.S. tour with the Rangers in September, including appearances at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, Carnegie Hall and Benaroya Hall in Seattle.[75][76] In November, they went on to play at the Royal Festival Hall in London with support from Mary Black.[77] In 2010, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers appeared at the New Orleans Jazzfest, Merlefest Bluegrass Festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, at Bonnaroo Music Festival, at the ROMP[78] Bluegrass Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky, at the Red Butte Garden Concert series,[79] and on the BBC's Later... with Jools Holland.[80] Martin performed "Jubilation Day" with the Steep Canyon Rangers on The Colbert Report on March 21, 2011, on Conan on May 3, 2011, and on BBC's The One Show on July 6, 2011.[81] Martin performed a song he wrote called "Me and Paul Revere"[82] in addition to two other songs on the lawn of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, at the "Capitol Fourth Celebration" on July 4, 2011.[83] 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 album Rare Bird Alert.[84] In 2011, Martin also narrated and appeared in the PBS documentary "Give Me The Banjo" chronicling the history of the banjo in America.[85]

    The View and Late Show with David Letterman, to promote the album.[87][88][89]
    The title track won the Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song.[90] Starting in May 2013, he began a tour with the Steep Canyon Rangers and Edie Brickell throughout the United States.[91] In 2015, Brickell and Martin released So Familiar as the second installment of their partnership.[92] In 2017, Martin and Brickell appeared in the multi-award-winning documentary film The American Epic Sessions directed by Bernard MacMahon. Recording live direct-to-disc on the first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s,[93] they performed a version of "The Coo Coo Bird" a traditional song that Martin learned from the 1960s folk music group The Holy Modal Rounders.[94] The song was featured on the film soundtrack, Music from The American Epic Sessions released on June 9, 2017.[93]

    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.[95] The prize includes a US$50,000 cash award, a bronze sculpture created by the artist Eric Fischl, and a chance to perform with Martin on Late Show with David Letterman. Recipients include Noam Pikelny of the Punch Brothers band (2010),[96] Sammy Shelor of Lonesome River Band (2011),[97] Mark Johnson (2012),[98][99] Jens Kruger (2013),[100] Eddie Adcock (2014),[101] Danny Barnes (2015), Rhiannon Giddens (2016), Scott Vestal (2017), Kristin Scott Benson (2018),[102] and Victor Furtado (2019).[103]

    Personal life

    In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Martin was in a relationship with Bernadette Peters, with whom he co-starred in The Jerk and Pennies from Heaven. He also dated Mary Tyler Moore and Karen Carpenter.[104] On November 20, 1986, Martin married actress Victoria Tennant, with whom he co-starred in All of Me and L.A. Story. They divorced in 1994.[105]

    Martin went on a USO Tour to Saudi Arabia during Operation 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.[106] "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."[107] He also dated actress Anne Heche, who wrote about their relationship in her memoir.

    On July 28, 2007, Martin married writer and former New Yorker staff member Anne Stringfield.[108] Bob Kerrey presided over the ceremony at Martin's Los Angeles home. Lorne Michaels served as best man.[108] The nuptials came as a surprise to several guests, who had been told they were coming for a party.[108] In December 2012, Martin became a father when Stringfield gave birth to their daughter.[109][110]

    Martin has been an avid

    Ed Ruscha.[111] In 2001, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art presented a five-month exhibit of twenty-eight items from Martin's collection, including works by Roy Lichtenstein, Pablo Picasso, David Hockney, and Edward Hopper.[112] In 2006, he sold Hopper's Hotel Window (1955)[113] at Sotheby's for $26.8 million.[114] In 2015, working with two other curators, he organized an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and several other locations called, "The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris," featuring the works of Canadian painter and Group of Seven co-founder Lawren Harris.[115]

    In July 2004, Martin purchased what he believed to be Landschaft mit Pferden (Landscape with Horses), a 1915 work by

    forgery ring led by Wolfgang Beltracchi, pieces from which had been sold to French galleries.[116] 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."[117][118]

    Martin was on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art board of trustees from 1984 to 2004.[119] Martin assisted in launching the National Endowment for Indigenous Visual Arts (NEIVA), a fund to support Australian Indigenous artists in 2021. Martin has supported Indigenous Australian painting previously. He organized an exhibition in 2019 with Gagosian Gallery titled "Desert Painters of Australia", which featured art by George Tjungurrayi and Emily Kame Kngwarreye.[120]

    Martin has tinnitus; the condition was first attributed to filming a pistol shooting scene for Three Amigos in 1986,[121][122] but Martin later clarified that the tinnitus was actually from years of listening to loud music and performing in front of noisy crowds.[123]

    Influences

    Martin in 2011

    Martin has said that his comedy influences include Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, and Woody Allen.[124][125]

    On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he mentioned that Jerry 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".[126]

    Martin's offbeat, ironic, and deconstructive style of humor has influenced many comedians during his career including Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart,[127] Stephen Colbert, Robert Smigel, Bo Burnham,[128] and Jordan Peele.[129] Singer and composer Mike Patton cited Steve Martin as being an early influence[130] saying that he identifies with Martin.[131]

    Filmography

    Main article: Steve Martin filmography

    Awards and nominations

    Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Steve Martin

    Discography

    Albums

    Steve Martin albums
    Album Year Peak chart positions Certifications
    [132]     		Type
    Billboard 200
    [133]
    US Bluegrass
    [134]
    Let's Get Small 1977 10 —
    • US: Platinum
    		 Comedy
    A Wild and Crazy Guy 1978 2 —
    • US: 2× Platinum
    Comedy Is Not Pretty! 1979 25 —
    • US: Gold
    The Steve Martin Brothers 1981 135 —
    The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo 2009 93 1 Music
    Rare Bird Alert[135]
    (with Steep Canyon Rangers)     		2011 43 1
    Love Has Come for You[136]
    (with Edie Brickell)     		2013 21 1
    Live
    (with Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell)     		2014 — 1
    So Familiar
    (with Edie Brickell)[137]     		2015 126 1
    The Long-Awaited Album[138]
    (with Steep Canyon Rangers)     		2017 189 1
    "—" denotes a title that did not chart.

    Singles

    Steve Martin singles
    Title Year Peak chart positions
    US
    [139]     		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"
    (with Alison Brown featuring Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Trey Hensley, and Todd Phillips)     		2024 — Non-album single Music

    Music videos

    Steve Martin music videos
    Video Year Director
    "Jubilation Day"[140] 2011 Ryan Reichenfeld
    "Pretty Little One"[141] 2014 David Horn
    "Won't Go Back"[142]
    (with Edie 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 —

    Stand-up specials

    • Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life, 2018

    Other video releases

    • Steve Martin-Live! (1986, VHS; includes short film "The Absent-Minded Waiter and footage from a 1979 concert)
    • Saturday Night Live: The Best of Steve Martin (1998, DVD/VHS; sketch compilation)
    • Steve Martin: The Television Stuff (2012, DVD; includes content of Steve Martin-Live! as well as his NBC specials and other television appearances)

    Bibliography

    Books and plays

    Books and plays authored by Steve Martin
    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 with Edie Brickell
    2016 Meteor Shower play
    2020 A Wealth of Pigeons collection of cartoons with Harry 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 with Adam Gopnik

    Screenplays

    Screenplays by Steve Martin
    Year Title Notes
    1977 The Absent-Minded Waiter short film
    1979 The Jerk with Michael Elias and Carl Gottlieb
    1982 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid with Carl Reiner and George Gipe
    1983 The Man with Two Brains with Carl Reiner and George Gipe
    1986 Three Amigos with Lorne Michaels and Randy Newman
    1987 Roxanne based on Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
    1991 L.A. Story screenplay first published in 1987 with Roxanne as Two Screenplays
    1994 A Simple Twist of Fate based on the 1861 novel Silas Marner by George Eliot
    1999 Bowfinger
    2005 Shopgirl based on his novella of the same name
    2006 The Pink Panther with Len Blum
    2008 Traitor story only; with Jeffrey Nachmanoff
    2009 The Pink Panther 2 with Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

    Essays, reporting and other contributions

    • Danto, Arthur C. (2001). Eric Fischl 1970–2000. Afterword by Steve Martin. New York: Monacelli Press.
    • Modern Library Humor and Wit Series (2000) (Introduction and series editor)
    • Martin, Steve (February 13, 2000) [published February 21 & 28, 2000]. "Two menus". Shouts & Murmurs. The New Yorker. Vol. 97, no. 27. p. 25. Archived from the original on August 30, 2021.

    References

    1. ^ "Academy Unveils 2013 Governors Awards: Honorees Angelina Jolie, Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, Piero Tosi". Deadline Hollywood. September 5, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
    2. ^ "Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of all Time". Everything2. April 18, 2014.
    3. ^ Singer, Leigh (February 19, 2009). "Oscars: the best actors never to have been nominated". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
    4. ^ "Steve Martin and Martin Short's Friendship Timeline". People. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
    5. ^ "Steve Martin – Artist". grammy.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
    6. ISBN 978-0071398275
      .
    7. ISSN 0886-3032
      .
    8. ^ Walker (1998), p. 1.
    9. ISBN 978-1561719808
      .
    10. ^ "Ancestry of Steve Martin". Wargs.com. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
    11. ^ Jennifer Garcia (June 11, 2015). "Steve Martin's Life in Pictures in PEOPLE". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
    12. ^ Martin (2007), pp. 20–39.
    13. ^ "Top 5: Famous former male cheerleaders". The Washington Times. February 20, 2009.
    14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corliss, Richard (November 15, 2007). "Steve Martin, a Mild and Crazy Guy". Time. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
    15. ^ Wills, Dominic. "Steve Martin – Biography". TalkTalk. Archived from the original on February 9, 2010. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
    16. ^ Martin (2007), pp. 18–19.
    17. ^ Martin (2007), p. 39.
    18. ^ Walker (1998), p. 40.
    19. ^ Martin (2007), p. 65.
    20. ^
      ISBN 9781626743212. Retrieved June 18, 2022 – via Conversations with Steve Martin (University Press of Mississippi
      ).
    21. ^ a b c d Martin, Steve (February 2008). "Being Funny: How the path-breaking comedian got his act together". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
    22. IMDb
    23. ^ "SteveMartin.com | Stop the Presses". Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
    24. ^ Martin (2007), p. 76.
    25. ^ "Steve Martin". Television Academy.
    26. ^ Martin (2007), p. 77.
    27. ^ Freeman, Marc – 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' at 50: The Rise and Fall of a Groundbreaking Variety Show. Hollywood Reporter. November 25, 2017 ("It has been shown that more people watch TV than any other appliance.")
    28. ISBN 978-0786442591
      .
    29. ^
      ISBN 0-465-04195-7
      .
    30. YouTube
      . Retrieved August 14, 2010.
    31. ^ Rabin, Nathan (November 7, 2012). "Steve Martin: The Television Stuff". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
    32. ^ Anderson, Sam (November 18, 2007). "Rationalist of the Absurd: Steve Martin's extraordinarily calculated comedy". New York. Archived from the original on August 18, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
    33. ^ Martin (2007), pp. 176–177.
    34. ^ O'Reilly, Terry (February 8, 2018). "How A Wardrobe Change Transformed Steve Martin's Career". Under the Influence. CBC Radio One. Pirate Radio. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
    35. ^ Young, Alex (February 19, 2016). "After losing a bet to Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin performs his first stand-up comedy set in 35 years". Consequence. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
    36. ^ Czajkowski, Elise (February 19, 2016). "Jerry Seinfeld and Steve Martin standup comedy review – superbly honed". The Guardian.
    37. ^ Husband, Andrew (May 25, 2018). "Steve Martin And Martin Short Embrace The Past Even When They Shun It". Forbes. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
    38. ^ Leeson, Jef (2021). "The Funnier Side Of Eastern Canada". IMDb. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
    39. ^ Brummel, Chris (2010). "The Jerk: That Movie About Hating Cans". Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
    40. ^ American film Volume 7. 1981. American Film Institute, Arthur M. Sackler Foundation
    41. ^ "All of Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
    42. ^ Maslin, Janet (September 21, 1984). "Steve Martin in 'All of Me'". The New York Times. p. C6. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
    43. ^ Carignano, Tina (September 21, 1984). "Martin and Tomlin Get Their Act Together in All of Me". The Greyhound. Loyola College. Retrieved September 7, 2022 – via Internet Archive Digital Library.
    44. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
      from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
    45. ISBN 9781984826664
      .
    46. ^ Gallo, Hank (December 15, 1988). "Steve Martin leaves stand-up comedy behind, scans horizon for next role". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
    47. ^ Singer, Leigh (February 19, 2009). "Oscars: the best actors never to have been nominated". The Guardian. London. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
    48. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 17, 2020). "Steve Martin & Martin Short Comedy Series From Dan Fogelman Ordered By Hulu". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
    49. ^ Otterson, Joe (August 7, 2020). "Selena Gomez Joins Steve Martin, Martin Short in Hulu Comedy 'Only Murders in the Building'". Variety. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
    50. ^ Echebiri, Makuochi (August 10, 2022). "Steve Martin Will Not Pursue New Roles After 'Only Murders In The Building' Ends". Collider. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
    51. ^ a b But Seriously, Folks: Steve Martin talks about his first novella, a delicate, poignant modern romance about a shy shopgirl. Time article. October 16, 2000. Retrieved August 14, 2010
    52. ^ Grossman, Lev (December 9, 2007). "Born Standing Up review". Time. Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
    53. ^ Maslin, Janet (November 28, 2010). "A New York Tale of Art, Money and Ambition". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
    54. ^ "Steve Martin teaming with Harry Bliss on 'Bliss' cartoons". Tribune Content Agency. April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
    55. ^ Polston, Pamela (April 17, 2019). "Cartoonist Harry Bliss Collaborates With Comedian Steve Martin". Seven Days. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
    56. ^ "Book Review: A Wealth of Pigeons". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
    57. ^ "Number One Is Walking". Macmillan. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    58. ^ History: Picasso At The Lapin Agile. Oct. 13, 1993 – May. 12, 1994. Steppenwolf Theatre Company Archived May 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 14, 2010
    59. ^ "Of arts and sciences". by Steve Martin. Article in The Observer (Oregon). March 13, 2009. Retrieved December 19. 2017
    60. ^ Pearson, Vince. "Edie Brickell, Steve Martin Broadway Bound With 'Bright Star'". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
    61. ISSN 0362-4331
      .
    62. ^ Viagas, Robert (August 7, 2016). "New Steve Martin Play Meteor Shower Opens in California Tonight". Playbill. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
    63. ^ Rizzo, Frank (October 10, 2016). "Connecticut Theater Review: 'Meteor Shower' by Steve Martin". Variety. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
    64. ^ Cox, Gordon. "Amy Schumer to Make Broadway Debut in Steve Martin's 'Meteor Shower' " Variety, August 7, 2017
    65. ^ Gerard, Jeremy. "Broadway Review: Amy Schumer Splashes 'Meteor Shower' With A Burst Of Starlight" Deadline Hollywood, November 29, 2017
    66. ^ "Amy Schumer delights in Steve Martin's new comedy Meteor Shower: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
    67. ^ "Hosts of the 2010 (82nd) Academy Awards" Archived November 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
    68. ^ "Monty Python: 30 years of near reunions from the comedy troupe". Digital Spy. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
    69. ISBN 9780786478118
    70. ^ "Steve Martin Plays The Banjo Really Well (Video)". October 6, 2009. HuffPost. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
    71. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (August 5, 2009). "Steve Martin brings it all home with his banjo". The Guardian. Retrieved May 15, 2010
    72. ^ "Steve Martin's 2010 Banjo Tour". SteveMartin.com. March 4, 2010. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
    73. ^ "Steve Martin To Make Grand Ole Opry Debut". April 1, 2009. Billboard. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
    74. ^ Walcott, Escher (June 2, 2023). "Kelly Clarkson Drops New Single 'I Hate Love' — Featuring Steve Martin on Banjo!". People. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
    75. ^ "Benaroya Hall Calendar, Seattle Symphony Orchestra". Archived from the original on June 9, 2011.
    76. ^ Madison, Tjames (August 4, 2009). "Steve Martin and his banjo map fall tour". LiveDaily. Archived from the original on August 7, 2009. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
    77. ^ Gill, Andy (November 10, 2009). "Steve Martin with The Steep Canyon Rangers, Royal Festival Hall, London". The Independent.
    78. ^ "ROMP 2011: Bluegrass Roots & Branches Festival". International Bluegrass Music Museum. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    79. ^ "Concerts: Red Butte Garden 2010 Outdoor Concert Series". Red Butte Garden. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah. 2010. Archived from the original on June 19, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
    80. ^ "Later... with Jools Holland, Series 35, Episode 9". BBC. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
    81. ^ Tobey, Matt (March 21, 2011). "This Week on the Colbert Report: Steve Martin". Comedy Partners. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
    82. ^ Barker, Olivia (June 29, 2011). "Steve Martin's 'Paul Revere' picks away at history". USA Today.
    83. ^ "A Capitol Fourth: Watch Steve Martin Sizzle". PBS. July 3, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
    84. ^ Allmusic review
    85. ^ Martin, Steve (October 31, 2011). "Give Me The Banjo (Trailer)". PBS. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
    86. ^ Thompson, Stephen (April 14, 2013). "First Listen: Steve Martin And Edie Brickell, 'Love Has Come For You'". NPR. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
    87. ^ Bauer, Scott (April 22, 2013). "Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's 'Love Has Come For You': Collaboration A Perfect Blend of Traditional, Modern". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
    88. ^ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert". YouTube.
    89. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (April 19, 2013). "Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's 'Love Has Come For You'". The New York Times.
    90. ^ "Grammy Awards Past Winners Search (Steve Martin)". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    91. ^ "Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell Announce North American Tour". SteveMartin.com. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
    92. ^ "Steve Martin and Edie Brickell on 'Unexplored Territory' of New Album". Rolling Stone. October 29, 2015. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
    93. ^ a b "American Epic: The Collection & The Soundtrack Out May 12th". Legacy Recordings. April 28, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
    94. City
    95. ^ "The Steve Martin Banjo Prize". FreshGrass Foundation. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
    96. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 15, 2010). "Steve Martin Creates Steve Martin Bluegrass Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
    97. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 6, 2011). "Steve Martin Honors Another Banjo Player". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
    98. ^ Lawless, John (September 6, 2012). "Mark Johnson wins 2012 Steve Martin Prize". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
    99. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 20, 2012). "Steve Martin Awards Third Annual Bluegrass Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
    100. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 11, 2013). "Steve Martin's Prize for Bluegrass Goes to Jens Kruger". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
    101. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (September 15, 2014). "Veteran Banjo Player Wins Bluegrass Honor: The Steve Martin Prize Goes to Eddie Adcock". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
    102. ^ Lewis, Randy (September 24, 2018). "Steve Martin 2018 banjo prize goes to Kristin Scott Benson". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
    103. ^ Lawless, John (September 11, 2019). "Victor Furtado wins 2019 Steve Martin Banjo Prize". Retrieved October 12, 2019.
    104. ^ "Star tracks". Chicago Tribune. December 27, 1982.
    105. ^ "Victoria Tennant Biography (1950?-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
    106. ISSN 0190-8286
      . Retrieved April 19, 2021.
    107. ^ Jehl, Douglas (October 17, 1990). "He Can't Be 'Wild and Crazy Guy': Saudi Arabia: Steve Martin went to the gulf to put on a show for the troops, but all he was allowed to do was press the flesh and sign autographs". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
    108. ^ a b c "Steve Martin weds girlfriend Anne Stringfield". USA Today. AP. July 29, 2007. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008.
    109. ^ "Steve Martin becomes first-time dad at age 67". Archived from the original on April 11, 2013.
    110. ^ "Steve Martin is a dad for the first time at age 67". National Post. Toronto. February 14, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
    111. ^ Glueck, Grace (April 24, 2001). "In Vegas, Steve Martin Tries a Different Kind of Show". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 18, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    112. ^ Snedeker, Lisa (June 10, 2001), Las Vegas Casinos Gamble on Art as a Crowd Pleaser Los Angeles Times.
    113. ^ Vogel, Carol (October 6, 2006). "Edward Hopper Paintings Change at Whitney Show". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
    114. ^ Pollock, Lindsay (November 29, 2006). "Steve Martin Hopper, Wistful Rockwell Break Auction Records". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    115. ^ Martin adds curator to resume, The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2022
    116. ^ "Steve Martin Swindled: German Art Forgery Scandal Reaches Hollywood". Der Spiegel. May 30, 2011. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    117. ISSN 0261-3077
      . Retrieved October 27, 2020.
    118. ^ "The Long Game: how Wolfgang Beltracchi conned the art world". Art Critique. January 24, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
    119. ^ Reynolds, Christopher (June 17, 2005). "Crowds Greet Return of the King at LACMA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    120. ^ Solomon, Tessa (February 11, 2021). "Aiming to Grow Market, Steve Martin Helps Launch Fund for Australian Indigenous Artists". ARTnews. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
    121. ISBN 978-1841957197
      .
    122. ^ "How to manage tinnitus". utahbesthearingaids.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
    123. ^ "Steve Martin – Pitchfork". Pitchfork. October 27, 2015.
    124. ^ "It wasn't in the script: Carrie Fisher interviews Steve Martin about writing". Los Angeles Times. July 25, 1999. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    125. ^ "Steve's Comedic Inspirations". MasterClass. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
    126. YouTube published September 29, 2017 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
    127. ISBN 9780313358296
      . Retrieved April 8, 2020 – via Google Books.
    128. ^ McCarthy, Sean L. (October 29, 2010). "Bo Burnham Lists 'My Favorite Comedians' and Releases a Confessional Video: "Art Is Dead"". The Comic's Comic.
    129. ^ Lezmi, Josh (March 30, 2019). "Jordan Peele Reveals 2 Major Comedic Influences". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
    130. ^ "Mr. Bungle Radio Interview (For Locals Only) 1988". For Locals Only. Arcata, California: KFMI (published September 7, 2017). June 1, 1988. Event occurs at 19:04–19:31. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
    131. ^ Gitter, Mike (August 25, 1990). "Facts Not Fiction". Kerrang!. No. 305. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
    132. ^ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
    133. ^ "Chart History – Steve Martin: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
    134. ^ Peak positions for Bluegrass albums on Billboards Bluegrass Albums Chart:
    135. ^ "Rare Bird Alert". Rounder Records. March 1, 2011. Archived from the original on March 21, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
    136. ^ "Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers Launch Tour". All Access. February 21, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
    137. ^ Edwards, Fred (August 20, 2015). "Steve Martin & Edie Brickell Announce Second Album 'So Familiar'". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
    138. ^ Willman, Chris (September 22, 2017). "Album Review: Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, 'The Long-Awaited Album'". Variety. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
    139. ^ "Steve Martin – Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
    140. Country Music Television
      . Retrieved June 7, 2011.
    141. Country Music Television
      . Retrieved March 19, 2014.
    142. The Boot
      . Retrieved November 11, 2015.

    General and cited sources

    External links