Happy Birthday, Steve Martin

August 14, 1945 is the birth date of Steve Martin. A writer, comedian, actor, musician, he’s one of those figures who is hard to pin down, and how a person defines him probably depends on how old they are, and what Martin was doing at the time. He began as a comedian and writer while in college, became a writer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, winning an Emmy Award at the age of 23. His comedy albums in the 1970s were massively successful, and Martin was a guest and host on Saturday Night Live many times, was a guest star on The Muppet Show, and in 1981, retired from comedy and began focusing on acting and writing. He has tended to move between comedy films like The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, The Man with Two Brains, Three Amigos, with more serious work like Pennies From Heaven and The Spanish Prisoner.

Martin wrote a number of films that he also starred in including Roxanne, L.A. Story, Shopgirl, and the great comedy Bowfinger. Martin has written plays including Picasso at the Lapin Agile, books including The Pleasure of My Company, and a memoir, Born Standing Up, in addition to making multiple albums as a banjo player.

Strangely enough I think my introduction to Martin was The Muppet Movie where he plays an insolent waiter whose entire cameo is one great line after another. It’s very much a role that the wild and crazy Martin would have had in the 1970s when the film was made, and so very unlike the kinds of roles he’s known for today.