Line #55 Creator/SteveMartin


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steve-martin-40971.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:A wild and crazy guy.]]
3	->''"I loved to make people laugh in high school, and then I found I loved being on stage in front of people. I'm sure that's some kind of ego trip or a way to overcome shyness. I was very kind of shy and reserved, so there's a way to be on stage and be performing and balance your life out."''
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5	Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, author, and musician who first became famous as a writer for ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour'' and as a frequent guest on ''Series/TheTonightShow''. After appearing on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' as a guest host, he [[ColbertBump quickly became]] (and still is) one of the most popular comedians in the United States. Since the 1980's, he has focused more on acting than stand-up comedy. Martin is also well known as an accomplished banjo player and would often play the instrument during stand-up comedy shows in the 1970s. He has released five albums of bluegrass music and he has won more Grammys as a musician than he has for his comedy albums. He has recently returned to touring, but instead of stand-up comedy, it's with the bluegrass band Music/SteepCanyonRangers.
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7	He was never a cast member of ''SNL'' ([[CommonKnowledge a common misconception]])--he was a cast member on Lorne Michaels' failed ABC prime-time sketch series ''The New Show'', but was a frequent host on ''SNL'' (joining several other actors who have frequently hosted the show and are considered just as good as -- if not better than -- whoever the current cast members are, such as Alec Baldwin, John Goodman, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Buck Henry, and Drew Barrymore). Martin has guest-hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' 15 times. When he made his 11th appearance in 1989, he surpassed Buck Henry as the most frequent host in the history of the show, a title he held for 22 years until Creator/AlecBaldwin overtook him in 2011 with 16. Martin still became very close with several of the cast members, including Creator/GildaRadner. On the day Radner died from ovarian cancer in 1989, Martin was to host ''SNL''; after introducing a video clip of him and Radner appearing in a 1978 sketch, he became [[ManlyTears overcome with grief and started to cry.]]
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9	Martin is a [[HiddenDepths surprisingly deep guy;]] he has a degree in philosophy. He has done a significant amount of writing, not only penning screenplays for some of his best movies (''LA Story'', ''Roxanne'', ''Bowfinger'') but also stage plays (''Picasso at the Lapin Agile'') and novellas (''Shop Girl'', ''The Pleasure of My Company''). He is also the owner of one of southern California's finest private collections of modern art-- and many, including Martin himself, have implied that [[MoneyDearBoy expanding his collection]] is the motivation behind his taking such roles as ''Bringing Down the House'' and ''The Pink Panther''.
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11	Not to be confused with Dick Martin, co-host of ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In''.
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13	These days he’s mostly retired from acting to focus on his music. He doesn’t actively pursue any new roles but will take the right one should it come along. However, his most prominent role in recent years ended up coming from himself when he co-created ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding'' with John Hoffman alongside his longtime friend and previous costar Creator/MartinShort; the show is his first series regular gig.
14	----
15	!!Films:
16	* ''Film/DisneylandDream'' (1956) [[note]](This home movie briefly captures the then-11-years-old Martin working his first job selling programs and souvenirs at Disneyland.)[[/note]]
17	* ''Film/TheAbsentMindedWaiter'' (1977)
18	* ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' (1978)
19	* ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' (1979)
20	* ''Film/TheJerk'' (1979)
21	* ''Series/PenniesFromHeaven'' (1981)
22	* ''Film/DeadMenDontWearPlaid'' (1982)
23	* ''Film/TheManWithTwoBrains'' (1983)
24	* ''Film/TheLonelyGuy'' (1984)
25	* ''Film/AllOfMe'' (1984)
26	* ''Film/ThreeAmigos'' (1986)
27	* ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' (1986)
28	* ''Film/PlanesTrainsAndAutomobiles'' (1987) - Martin considers this his best performance.
29	* ''Film/{{Roxanne}}'' (1987)
30	* ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels'' (1988)
31	* ''Film/{{Parenthood}}'' (1989)
32	* ''Film/MyBlueHeaven'' (1990)
33	* ''Film/{{Father of the Bride\| 1991}}'' (1991)
34	* ''Film/GrandCanyon'' (1991)
35	* ''Film/LAStory'' (1991)
36	* ''Film/{{Housesitter}}'' (1992)
37	* ''Film/LeapOfFaith'' (1992)
38	* ''Film/ASimpleTwistOfFate'' (1994)
39	* ''Film/MixedNuts'' (1994)
40	* ''Father of the Bride Part II'' (1995)
41	* ''Film/SgtBilko'' (1996)
42	* ''Film/TheSpanishPrisoner'' (1997)
43	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' (as the voice of Hotep)
44	* ''Film/TheOutOfTowners''
45	* ''Film/{{Bowfinger}}'' (1999)
46	* ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000'' (2000)
47	* ''Film/{{Novocaine}}'' (2001)
48	* ''Film/BringingDownTheHouse'' (2003)
49	* ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen2003'' (2003)
50	* ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' (2003)
51	* ''Film/CheaperByTheDozen2'' (2005)
52	* ''Shopgirl'' (2005) - Martin starred in the film and also wrote the novella upon which it's based.
53	* ''Film/{{The Pink Panther\|2006}}'' (2006)
54	* ''Film/BabyMama'' (2008)
55	* ''Film/ThePinkPanther2'' (2009)
56	* ''Film/ItsComplicated'' (2009)
57	* ''Film/TheBigYear'' (2011)
58	* ''WesternAnimation/Home2015'' (2014)
59	* ''Film/LoveTheCoopers'' (2015)
60	* ''Film/BillyLynnsLongHalftimeWalk'' (2016)
61	* ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding'' (2021-present)
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63	!!Albums:
64	* ''Let's Get Small'' (1977)
65	* ''A Wild and Crazy Guy'' (1978)
66	* ''Comedy Is Not Pretty!'' (1979) - Final standup album.
67	* ''The Steve Martin Brothers'' (1981) - Standup and songs.
68	* ''The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo'' (2009) (with the Music/SteepCanyonRangers) - First album entirely of songs, Grammy Award winner for Best Bluegrass Album.
69	* ''Rare Bird Alert'' (2011) (with the Steep Canyon Rangers)
70	* ''Love Has Come for You'' (2013) (with Edie Brickell)
71	* ''So Familiar'' (2015) (with Edie Brickell) - Later adapted into the Broadway show ''Bright Star''.
72	* ''The Long Awaited Album'' (2017) (with the Steep Canyon Rangers)
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74	!!Associated Tropes:
75	* UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardsCeremonies: Hosted the show on 3 occasions (once alongside Alec Baldwin), to great acclaim. Although he never earned a competitive nomination for his work as an actor or writer (despite some saying he could have for ''Film/AllOfMe'' or ''Film/{{Roxanne}}''), he was eventually given an Honorary Oscar of his own in 2013.
76	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: His OneHitWonder song "King Tut" uses the rhyme "''Born in Arizona'' [=/=] ''Moved to Babylonia''" which is a great rhyme, though UsefulNotes/{{Tutankhamun}} was neither born in Arizona nor ever went to Babylonia (though the claim that [[CaptainObvious "he's an Egyptian"]] does seem to have a solid historical basis).
77	* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: [[invoked]]As mentioned above, Steve Martin was never a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (contrary to popular belief), but he hosted so many times and was a memorable part of the show in its early days that he could have been one of them. Martin ''was'' on Creator/LorneMichaels failed prime-time sketch show ''The New Show'' (which was such a critical and ratings failure that it made Lorne Michaels consider coming back to ''SNL'' after leaving the show from 1980 to 1985).
78	* DeadpanSnarker: Pretty much every character he plays. Few actors can sell barbed comments and frustrated, acidic wit as well as Martin. He's also one in real life, albeit not nearly as caustic as many of his characters.
79	* FunnyForeigner: He and Creator/DanAykroyd played Georg and Yortuk Festrunk, Czech immigrants and swinging bachelors, in a series of early ''SNL'' sketches. Steve also carried over the voice to his stand-up, and the characters also appear in the 1981 prime time special ''Steve Martin's Best Show Ever''.
80	* IronyAsSheIsCast: He played a lot of fathers over the years but didn't become one himself until the age of sixty-seven.
81	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Most of his characters are extremely sarcastic, short-tempered, grumpy and generally cynical but his natural charisma always shines through and they will usually show their softer side as time goes on.
82	* JustLikeMakingLove: "Hosting the Oscars is much like making love to a woman. It's something I only get to do when Billy Crystal is out of town."[[note]]He has hosted the Academy Awards three times, most famously in 2003 (the one where Creator/MichaelMoore made his anti–Iraq War scene when ''Film/BowlingForColumbine'' won the Best Documentary Oscar).[[/note]]
83	* MayDecemberRomance:
84	** In-universe, there is a significant age-gap between him and his on-screen wife, Creator/BonnieHunt, in the ''Cheaper By The Dozen'' movies.
85	** In RealLife, he also qualifies; his wife, Anne Stringfield, is a whopping ''27'' years younger than him, and he even has a daughter with her.
86	* MoralityBallad: "Grandmother's Song", a staple of his early stand-up act, parodies this trope by turning into WordSaladLyrics.
87	* PrematurelyGreyHaired: Possibly the most famous example in pop culture as his hair went completely grey before he was out of his thirties.
88	* {{Punchline}}: {{Averted\|Trope}}. Along with Creator/MontyPython, Martin was one of the first comedians on the 1970s comedy scene who experimented with comedy that had no punchlines, making him an early example of what would eventually become "alternative" comedy. In his autobiography, he described it as not allowing the audience the release of tension which came with a designated cue to laugh, keeping them on their toes and making sure they clung to his every word.
89	* ReclusiveArtist: Rarely, if ever, signs autographs, instead handing out cards that read "This is irrefutable proof that you met me and think I'm a great guy." [[note]]In his youth, Creator/JuddApatow wrote to Martin asking for an autograph, but was turned down. Apatow wrote back, angrily demanding his autograph and received a signed photo which read "[[SarcasmMode Sorry]], I didn't realize I was speaking to ''[[SmallNameBigEgo the]]'' [[SmallNameBigEgo Judd Apatow]]."[[/note]] He does use social media though and has a [[https://twitter.com/SteveMartinToGo Twitter account]].
90	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "King Tut" was inspired by the [[https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/septemberoctober/feature/king-tut-classic-blockbuster-museum-exhibition-began-diplom "Treasures of Tutankhamun"]] exhibition that toured the US between 1976 and 1979, which generated a huge amount of hype and merchandising that Martin found tacky, so he did a tongue-in-cheek "tribute" to Tut based on "all the ancient melodies and modalities" (i.e. DooWop from TheFifties). The song had an odd ColbertBump in 2022 when the video of Martin performing it on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' went viral on Website/{{Twitter}}, with younger viewers confused as to why the song is supposed to be funny, until it was pointed out that the video didn't include Martin's spoken intro that sets up the context very clearly.
91	* SillySimian: The TV special ''Comedy Is Not Pretty'' (1980) has a short film of Martin acting out the entire storyline from Marty Robbins' song "El Paso" -- with all of the other characters played by chimps!
92	* SilverFox: His hair was already greying in the late 70's, but still looks good.
93	** Even Rachel Ward (of ''Literature/TheThornBirds'' fame), who was regarded as quite a beauty in her prime, admitted that Steve Martin was one of the few comedians who was attractive (calling him a "hunk"). Even if her compliment turned into something that was slightly backhanded (as she mentioned that once Martin started talking, all of his hunk-ness faded away).
94	* SmallNameBigEgo: Since the beginning, his stage persona has been someone who genuinely believes he's the funniest, most talented performer ever, whether or not the audience agrees with him (this was initially to combat stage fright). It eventually evolved into [[ItsAllAboutMe total arrogance]], with a never-ending supply of backhanded compliments.
95	* SpellingSong: One line in "Ramblin' Man."
96	--> "R-A-M-B-L-I-N. ({{Beat}}) Apostrophe."
97	* TaughtByExperience: Martin ''taught himself'' how to play banjo by slowing down bluegrass records and learning note-for-note. He's never had a formal lesson.
98	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
99	** [[invoked]]He auditioned for the British version of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''. Oddly enough, the producers turned him down.
100	** He was the second choice for the part of the Genie in ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' before the casting of Creator/RobinWilliams.
101	* WhenYouComingHomeDad: When he plays fathers, this is generally part of the character's dilemmas.
102	* YoungerThanTheyLook: In his younger days. His hair went white very early, but he's hardly aged since, making him a rare example of both this and OlderThanTheyLook.

Context Creator / SteveMartin