Steve Martin

Steve Martin began his career as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967 and made his first national television appearance on the show in 1968. He also wrote for The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. In 1969, he won an Emmy Award with the writing staff of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He later earned an Emmy nomination for his work on Van Dyke and Company in 1976. During the 1970s, Martin appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Gong Show, HBO's On Location, The Muppet Show and Saturday Night Live, where he made 27 appearances and guest-hosted 16 times. He also appeared on The Virginia Graham Show around 1970.

Martin released the comedy albums Let's Get Small in 1977 and A Wild and Crazy Guy in 1978, both of which won Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Recording. His 1978 song "King Tut" was released as a single and reached No. 17 on the U.S. charts. His final comedy album, The Steve Martin Brothers, was released in 1981. Martin stopped performing stand-up comedy in 1981 to focus on film. He returned to live comedy in 2016, opening for Jerry Seinfeld, and that year began a national tour with Martin Short and the Steep Canyon Rangers. The tour resulted in the 2018 Netflix special Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life, which received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including two for Martin.

Martin's film career began with a small role in Another Nice Mess in 1972. In 1974, he starred in The Funnier Side of Eastern Canada. He wrote and starred in the short film The Absent-Minded Waiter in 1977, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action. He made his first substantial feature film appearance in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1978. In 1979, he starred in and co-wrote The Jerk.

In the 1980s, Martin starred in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), All of Me (1984), ¡Three Amigos! (1986), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Roxanne (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Parenthood (1989). He co-wrote Roxanne and received a Writers Guild of America Award for the film. In 1988, he also appeared in a revival of Waiting for Godot at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, playing Vladimir.

Martin also worked behind the scenes in television during the 1980s. He was co-creator and executive producer of Domestic Life (1984), executive producer, occasional writer and director of George Burns Comedy Week (1985), and co-creator, executive producer and director of Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills (1986). He also directed a segment of the 1979 comedy special Homage To Steve.

In the 1990s, Martin starred in My Blue Heaven (1990), L.A. Story (1991), Grand Canyon (1991), Father of the Bride (1991), Housesitter (1992), A Simple Twist of Fate (1994), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), The Out-of-Towners (1999) and Bowfinger (1999), which he also wrote. He voiced Ray Patterson in The Simpsons episode "Trash of the Titans" (1998) and Hotep in The Prince of Egypt (1998). He also appeared in Fantasia 2000 (1999), introducing the "Pines of Rome" segment.

During the 2000s, Martin starred in Bringing Down the House (2003), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Shopgirl (2005), Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), The Pink Panther (2006), Baby Mama (2008) and It's Complicated (2009). He reprised his role as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther 2 (2009). He also appeared as Gavin Volure on 30 Rock and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

In the 2010s, Martin appeared in The Big Year (2011), voiced Captain Smek in Home (2015), and appeared in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016). He appeared as himself on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee in 2016 and as a guest in the taped version of Oh, Hello on Broadway in 2017. He also starred with Martin Short in the 2018 Netflix comedy special An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life.

In 2020, Martin reprised his role as George Banks in Father of the Bride Part 3(ish). He is an executive producer and star of Only Murders in the Building, which he created with John Hoffman and stars alongside Martin Short and Selena Gomez. He later joined the cast of the Disney+ comedy series Oswald, which began development in 2025 and is scheduled to debut in 2027.

Martin began writing for The New Yorker in the 1990s. His books include Cruel Shoes (1979), the novellas Shopgirl (2000) and The Pleasure of My Company (2003), the memoir Born Standing Up (2007), and the novel An Object of Beauty (2010). In 2019, he began collaborating with cartoonist Harry Bliss as a writer for the syndicated single-panel comic Bliss. They published A Wealth of Pigeons and later collaborated on Martin's illustrated autobiography Number One is Walking (2022). Martin also adapted The Underpants for the stage in 2002 and co-wrote and produced the film Traitor in 2008.

Martin wrote the play Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 1993 and later ran in Los Angeles, New York City and other U.S. cities. His musical Bright Star, written with Edie Brickell, debuted on Broadway in 2016 and received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. Martin received Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score, as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Score and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. His play Meteor Shower opened at the Old Globe Theatre in 2016, moved to the Long Wharf Theatre later that year, and opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre in 2017.

Martin hosted Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python in 1989. He hosted the Academy Awards solo in 2001 and 2003 and co-hosted the ceremony with Alec Baldwin in 2010. In 2020, he opened the 92nd Academy Awards with Chris Rock. He also co-hosted Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years in 2005.

Martin's music career has centered on banjo and bluegrass music. He performed with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band during his early career and played banjo on Earl Scruggs's recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in 2001, which won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance. In 2009, he released The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, which won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. He made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in 2009.

Martin began performing and touring with the Steep Canyon Rangers in 2009. Their work together included performances on A Prairie Home Companion, at Carnegie Hall and other venues, as well as appearances at music festivals and on television. Their live album Rare Bird Alert was released in 2011. Martin also narrated and appeared in the PBS documentary Give Me The Banjo in 2011.

Martin and Edie Brickell released the collaborative album Love Has Come for You in 2013, followed by So Familiar in 2015. Love Has Come for You won the Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song. In 2017, Martin and Brickell appeared in The American Epic Sessions, performing "The Coo Coo Bird." Martin also created the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass in 2010.