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| Birth Name(s) : Stephen Glenn Martin |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
Victoria Tennant (1986-1994) |
| Profession:
N/A |
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Full Steve Martin Biography
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, musician and composer.
Martin also performed his own material, sometimes as an opening act for groups such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Carpenters. He appeared at San Francisco's 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 early seventies, Martin embarked on an ill advised comedy tour where he was often booked into seedy venues in the Midwest as either a solo act or an opener for down and out musical groups. His father compiled an account of these awful bookings and frequently alluded to his son's difficulties in his monthly letter to his real estate clients. Occasionally Steve would be booked with other comedians, most of them very bad with ineffectual gimmicks such as ventriloquism dummies, balloons, chaotic animal acts, and musical instruments. Martin borrowed heavily from these unpleasant experiences in many of his future routines.
In 2005, Martin wrote and starred in Shopgirl, based on his own novella. Martin played a wealthy businessman who strikes up a romance with a Saks 5th Avenue counter girl (Claire Danes). He also starred in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 that year. Martin's last work to date was the 2006 installment of The Pink Panther, standing in Peter Sellers shoes as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. In 2007, he announced on his website that he would likely be starting work on the sequel later in the year.
In 2005, Martin hosted a film along with Donald Duck, Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, which was intended to show at Disneyland until the end of Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration in September 2006, but it is continuing to run indefinitely. Martin was also honoured in 2005 with a Disney Legend award, acknowledging Martin's early career at Disneyland and connections with The Walt Disney Company throughout his career. Martin has guest-hosted Saturday Night Live 14 times, as of his February 2006 hosting (musical guest: Prince featuring Tamar), breaking his previous record of 13 (now held by fellow frequent host Alec Baldwin) and retaining his title as SNL's most frequent host. Coincidentally, Steve Martin was supposed to host with Prince as the musical guest on the first episode of SNL's 30th season, but both he and Prince backed out at the last minute and were replaced by Ben Affleck and Nelly.
Martin has also written two novellas, Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company. Shopgirl was later turned into a film (see above).
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Martin was voted one of the top 15 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. On October 23, 2005, Martin was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Martin is an avid art collector, particularly modern American art, and a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Martin's personal collection has at one time included the art of Georgia O'Keeffe, John Henry Twachtman, Richard Diebenkorn, Po Shun Leong, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Cy Twombly, Helen Frankenthaler, Edward Hopper, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Pablo Picasso. In 2005, The Huntington Library in San Marino, California announced that Martin had pledged US$1 million over five years for the museum's American art collection. Three-quarters of the gift will be used for exhibitions, with the remainder being used for acquisitions. Before he made his pledge, Martin loaned paintings to the museum, helped it acquire a sculpture by John Gregory, and sponsored an exhibition of "sugar paintings" by 19th century American artist Eastman Johnson. Jessica Todd Smith, the museum's American art curator, said Martin became an "enthusiastic" supporter of The Huntington after he visited the museum in 2002 while filming a movie nearby.
Along with the other writers for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Steve won an Emmy Award in 1969.In 1978 Steve won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for Let's Get Small, and in 1979 for A Wild and Crazy Guy.He shared a 2001 Grammy award for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Earl Scruggs (and others) for his banjo performance of Foggy Mountain Breakdown On October 23, 2005, Martin was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.Wikinews has related news:Kennedy Center names 2007 honors recipients |
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