BASELINE II, Inc.
Celebrity Biographies
Updated August 16, 1999
Martin (CST), Steve

OCCUPATION:
actor
comedian
screenwriter
producer
playwright  

BORN:
Waco, Texas, August 14, 1945 (male).

EDUCATION:
Attended Garden Grove High School in Orange, California (1963).
Attended Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California. Majored in philosophy. Dropped out after third year.
Attended University of California at Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. Majored in writing (1967).  

OTHER‑JOBS:
author  

MILESTONES:
At age five, moved with his family from Waco, Texas to Hollywood, California
1960‑1963: Worked part‑time while in high school at nearby Disneyland, including doing magic tricks at Merlin's Cave; at age 16 appeared in Wally Boag's "It's Vaudeville Again" at Disneyland, billed as "Mouth and Magic"; performed with Birdcage Theater (dates approximate)
1968‑1975: Wrote for various comedy‑variety shows beginning with "The Summer Smothers Brothers Comedy Show"
1972: Network (ABC) TV debut as regular (along with the likes of Cheryl Ladd and Teri Garr) on "The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show" variety hour (also writer)
1973: Made first appearance on "The Tonight Show"
1977: Short film debut as writer and actor, "The Absent‑Minded Waiter"; produced for own production company, The Aspen Film Society; Oscar‑nominated for Best Live‑Action Short  
1978: Feature film acting debut in "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
1979: First film as co‑writer, "The Jerk"; also starred
1980: Hosted two TV specials (both for NBC), "Steve Martin: Comedy is Not Pretty" and "All Commercials‑‑A Steve Martin Special"
1981: Delivered a touching and strong performance as a traveling salesman in the film adaptation of "Pennies From Heaven"
1983: Initial collaboration with director Carl Reiner "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"
1984: Offered a well‑received turn as a lawyer whose body is possessed by a crotchety millionairess (Lily Tomlin) in "All of Me", directed by Reiner
1986: First film as producer, "Three Amigos!"; also co‑wrote and co‑starred
1987: Wrote and starred in the comic gem "Roxanne", a modern‑day update of "Cyrano de Bergerac"
1988: Starred onstage with Robin Williams in the Lincoln Center Theater production of "Waiting for Godot"
1991: Appeared as a Joel Silveresque film producer in "Grand Canyon"
1991: Teamed with Diane Keaton in the remake of "Father of the Bride"
1992: First screen pairing with Goldie Hawn, "Housesitter"
1993: Playwriting debut, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile"
1994: Updated "Silas Marner" as "A Simple Twist of Fate"; wrote, produced and starred  
1995: Reteamed with Keaton for the sequel "Father of the Bride II"
1998: Delivered a strong supporting turn as a mysterious businessman in David Mamet's "The Spanish Prisoner"
1998: Voiced character of Hotep in the DreamWorks animated feature "The Prince of Egypt"
1999: Reunited with Hawn for the remake of "The Out‑of‑Towners"
Signed to co‑create (with Noah Baumbach) a sitcom for the 1999‑2000 season  

BIOGRAPHY:
This silver‑haired, physically expressive performer successfully shifted from being one of the most popular standup comics of the 1970s to a respected film actor of the 80s and 90s. Martin began as a sharp TV comedy writer, winning an Emmy for his work on the "Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1972. He began performing his material in clubs in the late 60s. Less than a decade later, Martin was a comedy superstar, filling stadiums, releasing platinum records, coining catch‑phrases ("Well excuuuse me!") and making zany, inspired appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "Saturday Night Live". Martin even  enjoyed a highly popular single on the pop record charts with his half‑spoken, half‑sung comic rendition of "King Tut". He launched a successful film career with "The Jerk" (1979), a hilariously silly comedy. Martin's success paved the way to feature careers for other 70s comedians including Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.  

While Martin's laudably lowbrow early features gave little indication of career longevity, the 1980s saw him develop into a leading comic actor and capable dramatic player in films including the offbeat revisionist musical drama, "Pennies From Heaven" (1981), and the unremarkable but pleasant mainstream comedy of "Parenthood" (1989). Martin's most outstanding performances include his award‑winning work in the farce "All of Me" (1984), in which his confused body had to accommodate the spirit of both his own personality as well as that of a woman (Lily Tomlin), and his surprisingly touching and graceful acting in "Roxanne" (1987), a modern‑day comic revamp of "Cyrano de Bergerac".  

In the 90s, Martin became a Hollywood hyphenate producing, writing and starring in "L.A. Story" (1991). Although fine in a dramatic stretch as a Joel Silver‑like producer in Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" (1991), his greatest commercial successes have been in light Disney comedies: starring as the put‑upon dad in the remake of "Father of the Bride" (1991) and in "Housesitter" (1992), as an uptight architect whose life is disrupted by female grifter Goldie Hawn. Whereas Martin's earlier films expertly showcased his manic qualities, the later work demonstrated his competence as a straight man and comic foil.  

Martin subsequently attempted to stretch himself as a film performer but the results were uneven and commercially unsuccessful. He proved light on his feet if ultimately joyless and opaque playing a charlatan faith healer in the largely dramatic "Leap of Faith" (1992). Martin returned to Disney's Touchstone division for an atypical assignment as executive producer and scripter of "A Simple Twist of Fate" (1994), a polished yet problematic adaptation of George Eliot's "Silas Marner". He was effective as a gloomy recluse who reconnects with life by raising an infant girl abandoned on his doorstep but audiences detected a  owner and steered clear. Martin returned to more conventional comedy with "Mixed Nuts" (1995), a  remake of a French film ("Le Pere Noel est une ordure") about a telephone crisis center. The Christmas‑themed comedy proved a critical and commercial disaster despite major talents before and behind the camera including writer‑director Nora Ephron, Madeline Kahn, Rob Reiner, Juliette Lewis and Garry Shandling. Martin shrewdly retreated to the safe, familiar and familial as he signed on for "Father of the Bride Part II" (1995) but his creative energies were better utilized in another arena.

Martin made his debut as a playwright in 1993 with "Picasso at the Lapin Agile", a comic fantasy about a meeting between the celebrated painter and Albert Einstein in a Paris bar in 1904 shortly before they achieved worldwide fame. The one act play started out in an Australian workshop and had its premiere in Chicago as a Steppenwolf Theatre Company presentation. The show became a hit in Los Angeles in 1994 where its originally scheduled six‑week run was extended to nine months. This well‑reviewed production also marked the Los Angeles debut of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater Co. "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" opened off‑Broadway in the fall of 1995 to respectable reviews and box office. "WASP and Other Plays" followed soon after at the Public Theater to further confirm Martin's status as a significant new voice on the theater scene.
‑‑‑Written by David Straussman & Kent Greene

AWARDS:
Received Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (1968/69). shared award.
Received Grammy for Best Comedy Recording for "Let's Get Small" (1977).
Received Grammy for Best Comedy Recording for "A Wild and Crazy Guy" (1978).
Received National Society of Film Critics for Best Actor for "All of Me" (1984).
Received New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for "All of Me" (1984).
Received National Board of Review for Best Actor for "All of Me" (1984).
Received Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor for "Roxanne" (1987).
Tied with Jack Nicholson in "Ironweed" and "The Witches of Eastwick".
Received Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for "Roxanne" (1987).
Received Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Playwriting Award for "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" (1996).

FAMILY‑MEMBERS:
Father: Glenn Martin. Real estate agent. Born c. 1914; suffered a stroke c. 1976.
Mother: Mary Martin (nee Lee).  

COMPANIONS:
Bernadette Peters. Actor. Together from 1979 to c. 1982; met on set of "The Jerk".
Wife: Victoria Tennant. Actor. Married on November 20, 1986; separated 1993; divorced 1994.
Anne Heche. Actor. Dated 1994‑96.  

AFFILIATIONS:
Board member, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)  

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
"Cruel Shoes" by Steve Martin Humorous short stories.
"Pure Drivel" by Steve Martin (1998).  

NOTES:
Martin is a serious collector of art.
Martin was selected as Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Man of the Year in 1988.
"I saw a review of 'The Mask' and it had this line, 'In this movie Jim Carrey proves he can act'. Now, that is a very subtle example of how comedy is not considered acting. "Hey he can act!' Like that has value over what you normally do? I mean, what did he do in "Ace Ventura?' I thought he was brilliantly funny‑‑he  arried the whole movie by his character‑‑but no, that's not acting. Acting is only when you cry." ‑‑Martin's response when asked if he felt that there is a bias against comedy in Hollywood in NEW YORK NEWSDAY December 21, 1994