Steve Martin

Biography

Born on August 14, 1945, in Waco, Texas, Steve Martin left college in 1967 to write for TV. He released four comedy albums between 1977 and 1981, winning Grammy Awards for Let's Get Small and A Wild and Crazy Guy. In 1979, he starred in his first full-length feature film, The Jerk, and later went on to success with Father of the Bride and numerous other films. More recently, in Martin released The Crow, a collection of banjo compositions that went on to earn him the Grammy for Bluegrass Album of the Year, and two follow-up albums. 

Early Life
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, Martin 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.

In the 1970s, 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.

This was a fertile time creatively for Martin, and he 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" and wrote his first book Cruel Shoes, in 1977.

Career
Steve Martin found a job as a writer in the show ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour’ in 1967 and soon started appearing on television too. Some of his initial television appearances were in ‘The Steve Allen Show’ in 1969 and ‘The Virginia Graham’ Show, in 1970.
He became a very popular comedian by the mid-1970s with frequent appearances on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’, ‘The Gong Show’, and NBC's ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL). His guest performances in the SNL increased the show’s viewership greatly.
Motivated by the success of his stand-up career he released two albums in the 1970s: ‘Let's Get Small’, and ‘A Wild and Crazy Guy’. Both were big hits and the latter peaked at No. 2 spot on the U.S. sales chart and sold over a million copies. He also achieved considerable fame touring and performing as a stand-up comedian, and garnered a huge fan following.
He eventually ventured into films and after appearing in a number of small film roles, he got his first substantial role in the jukebox musical film, ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ in 1978. The film was critically panned though Martin’s performance was appreciated.
Along with Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias, he co-wrote the comedy film, ‘The Jerk’ (1979). He also starred in the film as Navin R. Johnson. The film proved to be a huge success, grossing over $100 million at the box office.
The 1980s was an amazing decade for the actor who starred in hit films such as ‘All of Me’ (1984) and ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ (1987). Another one of his major films in the 1980s was ‘¡Three Amigos!’ in 1986 which was loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film ‘Seven Samurai’.
Though Steve Martin mostly played comedic roles in films, he portrayed a character that substantially differed from his regular roles in the drama film, ‘Grand Canyon’ in 1991 in which he played a more serious role.

In the 1997 thriller, ‘The Spanish Prisoner’, he played the darker role of Jimmy, a suspicious character who develops an interest in the work of a young businessman. The film was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.
In 2003, he co-starred with Queen Latifah in the comedy film, ‘Bringing Down the House’ which was directed by Adam Shankman. The movie was a big hit and earned $132.6 million in the United States and an international gross of $32 million. The same year, he appeared in ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ which also became a big commercial hit.
He played the role of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the detective comedy film ‘The Pink Panther’ in 2006. A huge box office hit, the movie spawned a sequel, ‘The Pink Panther 2’ in 2009 in which he reprised his role.
Steve Martin also loves to write and he published ‘Shopgirl’, a novella in 2000 which was followed by another novella, ‘The Pleasure of My Company’ in 2003. His memoir, ‘Born Standing Up’ was out in 2007 and was named as one of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007 by ‘Time’ magazine.