Actor with a different business skill on each finger: Who is Steve Martin?

His real name is Stephen Glen Martin, he was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas. He was born to his mother, Mary Lee Stewart, and his father, a real estate salesman and aspiring actor, Glenn Vernon Martin. Martin has an older sister named Melinda and has English, Scottish, Welsh, Scots-Irish, German and French ancestry in her family. Raised in a Baptist family with his sister, Martin was educated at Garden Grove High School.

Martin's first job was at Disneyland for three years, selling guidebooks full-time on weekends and during his school summer break. By 1960, having mastered several magic tricks and illusions, Martin took a paid job at the Magic store in Fantasyland, where he honed his skills in magic, juggling and creating balloon animals.

After high school, Martin enrolled at Santa Ana College, where he took drama and English poetry classes. Joining a comedy troupe at Knott's Berry Farm, Martin met new actress Stormie Sherk. Influenced by Sherk, Martin applied to California State University, Long Beach, to enroll as a major in philosophy.

Inspired by his philosophy classes, Martin considered becoming a professor. Changing his life during his time at university, Martin transferred to UCLA in 1967, where he majored in theater. Martin, who started working nights at local clubs, dropped out of college at the age of twenty-one.

In 1967, his work was presented to head writer Mason Williams by his ex-girlfriend and helped Martin get a job as a writer on the TV series "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." Along with the other writers of the series, Martin won an Emmy Award in 1969. Furthermore, Martin's first television appearance was with the series in 1968.

In the mid-1970s, Martin made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on many famous shows. His participation on Saturday Night Live (SNL) was watched by one million viewers and became one of the show's most successful hosts. Martin has appeared on twenty-seven Saturday Night Live shows and guest-hosted sixteen times.

His television debut led to the release of platinum-winning comedy albums. His track "Excuse Me" from his debut album, "Let's Get Small" (1977), pioneered the formation of a national slogan. His next album "A Wild and Crazy Guy" (1978) was an even bigger success than the first. Both albums won Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Recording in 1977 and 1978, respectively.

He made his first major film with the short comedy "The Absent-Minded Waiter" (1977). Martin's first book, "Cruel Shoes," a collection of funny short stories and essays, was published in 1977. He made his feature film debut with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978). In 1979, Martin starred and co-wrote the comedy film "The Jerk" directed by Carl Reiner. The movie ended up being a huge success with its revenue.

He got his first serious movie in "Pennies from Heaven" (1981), directed by Herbert Ross and based on the TV series of the same name. To prepare for the role, Martin took acting lessons from director Herbert Ross and learned to tap dance. Even though the film received positive reviews, it was a financial failure.

He starred in the sequel "The Jerk: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" in 1982, the science fiction film "The Man with Two Brains" in 1983, and the fantasy comedy "All of Me" in 1984. His performance in the last movie was the critically acclaimed performance to date. 1986's "¡Three Amigos!" directed by Martin, John Landis and written by Martin, Lorne Michaels and singer-songwriter Randy Newman. He appeared with Martin Short and Chevy Chase in the western comedy movie. It concluded with mixed reviews and a moderate box office win.

In the same year, he starred as sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello in the horror comedy musical "Little Shop of Horrors", an adaptation of the musical of the same name, directed by Frank Oz. The following year, he took the lead role with John Candy in the comedy "Airplanes, Trains and Automobiles". The film was both praised and a healthy profit. Later in the year, he appeared in the romantic comedy film "Roxanne" directed by Fred Schepisi and co-starring with Daryl Hannah. At the same time, the film was written by Martin and earned him the Writers Guild of America Award.

In 1988, he co-starred with Michael Caine in a remake of the Frank Oz-directed comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The following year, he was cast in the family comedy-drama film "Parenthood" directed by Ron Howard. The film was successful at the box office as well as garnering many accolades.

In 1991, Martin starred in the romantic comedy "L.A.Story" and the drama film "Grand Canyon"(1991). In the same year, he appeared in the romantic comedy "Father of the Bride" with Diane Keaton and Martin Short. The following year, he co-starred in the comedy "Housesitter" with Goldie Hawn and Dana Delany, which was a box office success. In 1995, he reunited with Diane Keaton and Martin Short in the sequel "Father of the Bride Part II". The film grossed more than double its production budget.

In the following years, he co-starred with Eddie Murphy in the friendly comedy "Bowfinger" (1999), directed by Frank Oz and written by Martin. The film resulted in both positive reviews and moderate financial success. He has also written novels, "Shopgirl"(2000) and "The Pleasure of My Company"(2003).

By 2003, Martin appeared in the romantic comedy "Bringing Down The House" (2003) and the family comedy "Cheaper by the Dozen" (2003). With these films, he took the fourth place in the box office stars list. Also, both films were met with huge commercial gains. That same year, he appeared as the villainous Mr. President in the animation/live-action mix "Looney Tunes: Back in Action." Despite positive reviews, the movie was a bombshell at the box office.

In 2005, he appeared with Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman in the romantic comedy-drama "Shopgirl" directed by Anand Tucker and based on Martin's book of the same name. The film received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for four Satellite Awards. In the same year, he appeared in the same role in the sequel family comedy "Cheaper by the Dozen 2". Despite negative reviews, the movie was successful at the box office. The following year, he played the lead role in the comedy-mystery film "The Pink Panther" directed by Shawn Levy. The film was a commercial success, although it received mostly negative reviews. He played the same role in the sequel, "The Pink Panther 2," directed by Harald Zwart. Combined, the two films in the series have grossed over $230 million at the box office.

In 2007, he published the sudden book "Born Standing Up". The book was named one of Time magazine's "Top 10 Non-Fiction Books" of 2007 and was placed at #6. In 2009, he co-starred with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin in the romantic comedy "It's Complicated" written and directed by Nancy Meyers. The film, which received a huge commercial gain and acclaim, resulted in many awards and nominations in various categories. In 2010, she released her novel "An Object of Beauty".

In 2011, he got a lead role in the birding comedy film "The Big Year" directed by David Frankel, along with Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and JoBeth Williams. The film was mildly criticized and ended up being a box office bomb. After a three-year hiatus, Martin returned in 2015 with a voice-over role in the DreamWorks animated film "Home" alongside Jim Parsons and Rihanna, which was a financial success.

In 2016, Martin made a return to live comedy with a ten-minute opening stand-up show before handing it over to Jerry Seinfeld. In the same year, he appeared in a supporting role in the war drama movie "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" directed by Ang Lee and based on the novel of the same name. Later that year, he appeared as himself in the Netflix web series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" directed by Jerry Seinfeld. She also appeared in the 2018 Netflix comedy special "Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You'll Forget for the Rest of Your Life". The special earned four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and Martin earned two nominations for Outstanding Screenplay in a Variety Special.

From 2019, Martin has collaborated with cartoonist Harry Bliss as a writer for the collaborative single-panel comic "Bliss". In 2022, they reunited for Martin's illustrated autobiography "Number One is Walking." Martin is starring and executive producing on "Only Murders in the Building," a Hulu mystery comedy television series he co-created with John Hoffman and co-starring with Martin Short and Selena Gomez. In August 2022, Martin announced that it would likely be his last role in the series.

Private life

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Martin had an affair with actress Bernadette Peters. In November 1986, Martin married actress Victoria Tennant. The couple divorced in 1994. In July 2007, Martin married writer Anne Stringfield. The couple had a daughter born in December 2012.

Martin has been an avid art collector since 1968. He has released albums and singles with many artists. He has also signed solo tracks and albums. In addition, he has won many awards and nominations by writing plays. Martin's offbeat, ironic and deconstructive humor has pioneered and influenced many comedians throughout his career.