Steve Martin Earns AFI’s Highest Honor

Steve Martin Earns AFI Life Achievement Award
Steve Martin (Photo Courtesy of AFI)

Comedian/actor/musician/author Steve Martin has been chosen to receive AFI’s highest honor, the AFI Life Achievement Award. Martin will be awarded the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award during a star-studded gala to be held on June 4, 2015 in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air on TNT in June.

“Steve Martin is an American original,” said Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute’s Board of Trustees. “From a wild and crazy stand-up comic to one who stands tall among the great figures in this American art form, he is a multi-layered creative force bound by neither convention nor caution. His work is defined by him alone, for he is the author – and a national treasure whose work has stuck with us like an arrow in the head. AFI is proud to present him with its 43rd Life Achievement Award.”

Martin’s award shelf currently holds an Emmy, four Grammys, an Honorary Oscar, and a Kennedy Center Honor.

Previous winners of the AFI Life Achievement Award include Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Barbra Streisand, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, and Dustin Hoffman.

Steve Martin Biography [Courtesy of AFI]

Steve Martin was born in Waco, Texas but was raised mostly in Southern California. As a teenager, Martin sold guidebooks and performed magic tricks at Disneyland – honing his craft among seasoned performers at the Happiest Place On Earth. He studied philosophy at Long Beach State College but eventually transferred to the theater program at the University of California, Los Angeles – before leaving college altogether to become a comedy writer for THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR, winning an Emmy® Award in 1969.

In the 1970s, Martin performed stand-up comedy in local clubs, wrote for THE SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR and appeared on THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. In 1979, he brought his offbeat humor to his first starring role in a feature film with THE JERK, which he also co-wrote.

Among Martin’s additional credits are DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID (1982), ALL OF ME (1984), LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986), ¡THREE AMIGOS! (1986), ROXANNE (1987), DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988), L.A. STORY (1991), FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1991), CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (2003), SHOPGIRL (2005) and THE PINK PANTHER (2006).

He also released four comedy albums between 1977 and 1981, winning GRAMMY® Awards for “Let’s Get Small” and “A Wild and Crazy Guy.” He received a gold record for his hit comedy song “King Tut” and recently won another GRAMMY® – Best American Roots Song for “Love Has Come For You,” off his nominated album of the same name. An accomplished playwright and essayist, he wrote his first book – “Cruel Shoes” – in 1977.