Somewhere
during the course of the last couple of decades Steve Martin very quietly
became our generation’s Renaissance man. Hard to believe we’re saying that
about a guy who first found fame with a fake arrow through his head, but it’s
true.
Once
considered merely a writer and stand-up comedian, Martin has transformed into a
master of many trades. Consider his list of accomplishments:
• 1967 — Steve
lands a gig as writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and a comedic
genius is born. He even wins an Emmy with the rest of the writing staff in
1969. Stints on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and The Sonny and Cher Comedy
Hour follow.
• October
23, 1976 — Steve Martin hosts Saturday Night Live for the first time. As of
now, he’s been the special guest star more than anyone else, although Alec
Baldwin is constantly nipping at his heals.
• 1977 — Steve
releases the comedy album Let’s Get Small, which peaks at #10 on the Billboard
Pop Album Chart. It will be the first of four brilliant comedy albums.
• 1978 — Steve
publishes Cruel Shoes, a collection of equally funny short stories. He’ll
repeat the feat in 1998 with a similar work called Pure Drivel.
• 1978 — Martin’s
novelty-song single “King Tut” soars to #17 on the U.S. charts. Sadly he did
not win a Grammy buried in his jammies.
• December
14, 1979 — He takes his humor to the big screen in his first leading role when
The Jerk opens. He also happened to co-write the flick, which was directed by
Carl Reiner.
• 1982 — Martin
receives his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actor — Comedy/Musical
for Pennies from Heaven. He’d get four more such nods for All of Me, Roxanne,
Parenthood and Father of the Bride.
• February
12, 1988 — He wins a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based
on Material from Another Medium for Roxanne.
• October
13, 1993 — He opens the first play he’s penned, Picasso at the Lapin Agile at
the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. Successful runs in Los
Angeles and New York follow.
• April
22, 1996 — He contributes his first piece in The New Yorker entitled “Yes, in
My Own Backyard.”
• 2000 — He
publishes his first novella Shopgirl, which will later become an underrated
film starring Martin and Claire Danes. His second novella, The Pleasure of My
Company is equally good and under appreciated.
• March
25, 2001 — He hosts the Oscars for the first time. He’ll repeat again solo in
2003 and with Alec Baldwin at his side in 2010.
• November
20, 2007 — Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life — He gives fans all a peak at his
inner workings in his thoroughly engaging autobiography.
• May 19,
2009 — He finally releases his first album of banjo-fueled Americana music
called The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo. He embarks on a tour. The
album would win the Grammy for Best Bluesgrass Album in 2010. It wasn’t Steve’s
first for music, he was part of the Grammy-winning Earl Scruggs’ “Foggy
Mountain Breakdown” in 2002. And of course, already had two for comedy albums.
• September
8, 2010 — He puts out a kids’ book called Late for School, which is illustrated
by C.F. Payne and accompanied by a CD featuring original Martin performed banjo
tunes.
And along
the way he collected a ton of art, won a bunch of other awards, starred in and
wrote a whole lot of movies and made the occasional guest appearances on shows
like 30 Rock. Heck, he’s even been funny on Twitter. We have no idea if Steve
can cook a gourmet meal or make his own clothes, but nothing would surprise us.
So, it’s
with great anticipation that we hit the local bookstore tomorrow to pick up a
copy of his first full-length work of fiction — the 304-page An Object of
Beauty: A Novel. Set in the art world, advance word is that it’s full with all
of the biting wit we’ve come to expect from the Wild and Crazy Guy.
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