Steve Martin toured as a stand-up comedian in the ’70s before pursuing his Hollywood dreams.
Martijn joined Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour as a writer in the late 1960s and won his first Emmy Award in 1969. After his breakthrough role in the 1977 film The absent waiterMartin played the leading role All of Me, LA Story, Parenting and the Father of the bride movies.
Writing remained an important part of Martin’s career. He published his first book, Cruel shoesin 1979, followed by the 2000s Shop girl2007 Born standing and his 2022 illustrated memoir, Number one runs: my life in the movies and other diversions.
He went on to write a number of plays, including Meteor shower, Chatter for the Floating Lady, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and the Tony Award-nominated musical Bright star.
“I always thought writing for my comedy act was writing,” Martin said The believer in 2005. “I remember being in New York and seeing a comedy play, and I thought, ‘I should be able to do that. I have written screenplays and performed live.’ So I started messing around, writing my first play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”
Martin also has a love for music and taught himself to play the banjo as a teenager, along with the help of a folk artist John McEuen. Martin took up the banjo in his stand-up career and has worked with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Steep Canyon Rangers and In the Minds of the Living.
“I like it because my investment in this is not with my ego. It’s more of an emotional investment,” Martin said Banjo News in 2010. “If I did a comedy show in a 3,000-seat venue and a thousand people showed up… But if only a thousand people showed up to see me play the banjo, that seems about right. So for me it’s not the same.”
A new generation of fans subsequently fell in love with Martin’s comedic energy Only murders in the building premiered in 2021. A year later, he hinted that he was ready to take a step back from the spotlight, telling The Hollywood Reporter“This is it, strangely enough.”
Keep scrolling to see Martin’s life in photos: