A jerk, a high strung father of the bride, a man trying to make it home for Thanksgiving, and an actor solving murders in an upscale New York apartment building. Steve Martin can do it all. The comedic actor has mastered the art of animated facial expressions, physical comedy, and genius timing to become one of the most well regarded talents of his generation. As Martin celebrates his 80th birthday, we are looking back at his career in film and television.

Martin was born on August 14, 1945, in Waco, Texas. His first job was selling guidebooks at Disneyland, and then he performed magic at Disney’s Fantasyland. He started college at Long Beach State College then transferred to the theater program at the University of California in Los Angeles.

He left college to write The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, winning an Emmy in 1969. Over the next decade, Martin performed standup comedy routines at clubs, wrote for The Sonny and Cher Show, he made his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and in ’76, he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time. Martin released four comedy albums from ’77 to ’81, winning a Grammy for Let’s Get Small and A Wild and Crazy Guy. He got a gold record for the comedy song “King Tut” and wrote his first book, Cruel Shoes.

Martin’s first short film, The Absent-Minded Waiter was nominated for an Academy Award. In ’79, he starred in The Jerk, his first feature length film and the beginning of collaborations with director Carl Reiner. They followed it up with the detective spoof Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, the sci-fi comedy The Man with Two Brains, and the identity swap comedy All of Me.

He was in Three Amigos with Chevy Chase and Martin Short, played the sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors, and starred in Roxanne, the Cyrano de Bergerac modern interpretation. Martin was in the road trip comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles with John Candy, starred in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood, and My Blue Heaven with Rick Moranis. He wrote, starred in, and co-executive produced L.A. Story in ’91, then he played the frenetic dad in Father of the Bride and its sequel. He was in Leap of Faith, Mixed Nuts, The Spanish Prisoner, The Out-of-Towners remake with Goldie Hawn, and worked with Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger.

In 2001, Martin hosted the Academy Awards for the first time, and returned in 2003 and 2010, then he teamed up with Chris Rock to open the show in 2020. He wrote the novella Shopgirl in 2001 and starred in the movie version with Claire Danes in 2005. Martin and Queen Latifah starred in Bringing Down the House, he did the remake of Cheaper by the Dozen with Bonnie Hunt, and wrote and starred in The Pink Panther remake. Martin wrote the autobiography Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, and was in Baby Mama, It’s Complicated, The Big Year, Love the Coopers.

While writing and acting, he also released the album The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo and he won the Grammy for Bluegrass Album of the Year. He released Rare Bird Alert and The Long-Awaited Album with Steep Canyon Rangers, and Love Has Come for You and So Familiar with Edie Brickell.

Martin started the 2020s by co-creating the popular mystery/comedy/drama Only Murders in the Building with John Hoffman. He stars in the series alongside Short and Selena Gomez as true crime podcasters who keep discovering and solving murders at the Arconia apartment building in Manhattan.

Throughout his career, Martin has won an Academy Award, five Grammys, an Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award, plus he has been nominated for eight Golden Globes and two Tony Awards.