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Stephen "Steve" Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, author, playwright, producer, musician and composer. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated for two Tony Awards for his musical Bright Star in 2016. Among many honors, he has received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center Honors, and an AFI Life Achievement Award. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.

Martin came to public notice in the 1960s as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1969, and later as a frequent host on Saturday Night Live. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before sold-out theaters on national tours. Since the 1980s, having retired from stand-up comedy, Martin has become a successful actor, starring in such films as The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), All of Me (1984), Three Amigos (1986), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), L.A. Story (1991), Bowfinger (1999) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). He has also known for portraying the family patriarch in Parenthood (1989), the Father of the Bride films (1991–1995), and the Cheaper by the Dozen films (2003–2005).

Since 2015, Martin has embarked on several national comedy tours with his longtime friend and fellow comedian Martin Short. In 2018, they released their Netflix special An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life for which they received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In February 2020, Martin opened the 92nd Academy Awards alongside Chris Rock with comedy material. They were not previously announced as that year's hosts, and joked after their opening monologue, "Well we've had a great time not hosting tonight". In 2020, Martin respired his role as George Banks in the short Father of the Bride, Part 3(ish).

In 2021, he co-created and starred in his first television show, the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building alongside Short and Selena Gomez where he earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. On December 10, 2022, the eighth episode and Holidays episode of Season 48, Martin and Short co-hosted Saturday Night Live together for their 16th time and 4th time respectively, with musical guest Brandi Carlile, with their co-star Selena Gomez making an appearance in the opening monologue and "Father of the Bride: Part 8" sketch, with their Father of the Bride co-star Kieran Culkin.

Martin is also known for writing the book to the musical Bright Star (2016) and for the comedy Meteor Shower (2017), both of which premiered on Broadway; he co-wrote the music to the former. He has played banjo since an early age and has included music in his comedy routines from the beginning of his professional career. Since the 2000s he has increasingly dedicated his career to music, acting less and spending much of his professional life playing banjo, recording, and touring. He has performed with various bluegrass acts, including Earl Scruggs, with whom he won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance in 2002. His first solo music album, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo (2009) received the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.

He has hosted Saturday Night Live 16 times, a record recently broken by Alec Baldwin and has guested 19 times. He would be later the only one hosting appearance behind Alec Baldwin's record, who hosting the show of 17 times.

Impressions/Characters[]

Impressions[]

Characters[]

  • Charles Knerlman
  • Georg Festrunk
  • King Tut
  • Theodoric

SNL Career[]

As host[]

Other appearances[]

Gallery[]

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