Steve Martin: All Of Life’s Riddles

We all fondly remember Steve Martin as the corky dad from the film “Father of the Bride,” who was worried about becoming older and even more worried about his daughter getting married to a man he barely knew. But this award-winning actor has also dabbled in everything from stand up comedy to writing books to co-writing and producing movies. When he was a young boy, Martin moved from Waco, Texas to California with his family. He soon enrolled in Long Beach State College where he studied philosophy, but transferred to the theater program at the University of California.

Leaving college, Martin went on to write comedy for the “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” in 1967 and ended up winning an Emmy Award for his progress in 1969. Writing for the Sonny and Cher Show from 1972-73 was only the beginning of Martin’s successful career. Doubling his writing skills with his performances at local comedy clubs and appearances on shows like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Martin soon got his big break when he filled in as a guest host on NBC’s Saturday Night Live in 1977. His offbeat humor made him an instant celebrity. Releasing four comedy albums between the years of 1977-81, the brilliant actor went on to win Grammy awards for his albums “Lets Get Small” and “A Wild and Crazy Guy.” Martin was just getting started. That same year he went on to receive a gold record for his hit comedy song “King Tut” and then decided to write his first book called “Cruel Shoes.” “I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with blank paper,” said the writer.

Martin wrote his first short film, “The Absent-Minded Waiter,” which was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1977. Two short years later, he starred in his first full-length feature film which was the first of many collaborations between Martin and director, Carl Reiner. The actor stretched his talent even further by co-writing, executive producing and starring in shows like Roxanne, a modern interpretation of the story of Cyrano De Bergerac. C.D. Bales, played by Martin, is a fire chief with an extremely large nose who falls for a very beautiful Roxanne, played by A Actress Daryl Hannah, while she on the other hand falls for his personality but another man’s looks.

“All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies,” he stated. For his work in Roxanne, he won a Best Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as well as an award for “Best Screenplay” from the Writers Guild of America. These weren’t Martin’s first awards for best actor and they wouldn’t be the last. He has played a multitude of characters in many well-known movies such as the demented dentist in Frank Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors and the overly obsessed dad in Father of the Bride. “I believe entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you’re an idiot,” said the actor.

Martin continues to climb the ladder of success by creating playwrights such as Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which opened at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, moving to Boston and Los Angeles as well as running off-Broadway. Aside from the movies that Martin is well known for participating in, he also went on to host the notorious Academy Awards in 2001 and was invited back in 2003 due to his trademark humor.