Season 2 of the popular Hulu series Only Murders in the Building was recently released, which marks the return of Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage - part of the main trio that also includes Martin Short and Selena Gomez.
Martin has had a long and successful career as a comedian, actor, musician, magician, and writer. Martin's work has earned him an Academy Award, several Grammy Awards, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, among many others. Such a varied career has led to an interesting and memorable life for Martin, including a long friendship with Only Murders in the Building co-star Short, but there is plenty more besides that fans may not know.
He Worked at Disneyland
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Steve Martin got his start in 1955, first doing lasso tricks and handing out guidebooks in Frontierland, then magic tricks and balloon animals in Fantasyland.
Martin got an early start as an entertainer as a young man. He performed magic tricks as part of his act once he became a comedian. A lot of celebrities got their start working at Disneyworld, so it's interesting to see that Martin is one of them. Also of interest is that he was working at Disneyland when the park first opened in the 1950s.
He Was Once A Cheerleader
History by Day states that Steve Martin was a cheerleader at Grover High School. He was reportedly very enthusiastic and says that he was more of a “yell-leader” than a cheerleader.
Martin's cheerleading foreshadows his later career as a performer, comedian, and writer. He treated his cheers like comedy and wrote his own comedic cheers, including "Die, you gravy-sucking pigs" (via Los Angeles Times). The fact that he was considered a “yell-leader” hints at the over-the-top nature of his comedic style.
Game Show Contestant
AV CLUB revealed that Steve Martin flirted with Deana Martin, Dean Martin's daughter on The Dating Game. He gave joke answers and his answer about wanting to hang out at a closed Goodwill store to try on clothes all night made her choose him. The two won a trip to Italy together.
Martin was a comedian even when he wasn't performing a comedy act. The fact that his answer about a closed Goodwill store is what made her pick him shows how charming Martin is. His comedic answers showcase his absurd sense of humor and his often outlandish persona. While Martin wasn't the only celebrity who appeared on the show, he managed to make his appearance stand out.
He Almost Starred In Eyes Wide Shut
According to Eyes Wide Shut. The director invited Martin to his house for dinner and they played chess and looked at old reviews of his movies.
If Martin had taken the lead role in Eyes Wide Shut his career could have gone in a very different direction than the silly comedies he primarily went on to star in. The film likely would have been a very different project had Masrtin starred in it in the 1980s instead of Tom Cruise in 1999.
He Is An Avid Art Collector
According to artnet, Steve Martin is a ionate art collector. He started his collection at the very early age of 21, with a painting from 19th-century painter James Gale Tyler. In an interview with Time Magazine, Martin stated, "Collecting art is my biggest hobby...I love them at least partly because this art is so different from what I do that it’s an escape for me."
Art collecting appears to be one of Martin's longest hobbies. It's interesting to read how his collection expanded over time, featuring American artists like Eric Fischl and European artists like Pablo Picasso. It makes sense that he would find paintings different from what he does as an actor or comedian, as collecting paintings could be considered more relaxing.
Theatre Work
According to Britannica, Steve Martin has had numerous forays into writing for theatre. These include Picasso at the Lapin Agile performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 1993, the musical Bright Star (2014) that he wrote with singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, and the comedy Meteor Shower starring Amy Schumer in 2017-18.
These three plays had very different premises, which show how imaginative he is. Picasso at the Lapin Agile focuses on a conversation between Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso and a mysterious time-traveling Elvis Presley. Bright Star is a folk musical about Alice, a literary editor in love with a young soldier back from World War II, which leads her to look at her past. Meteor Shower is a comedy about a couple's dinner party gone wrong in Ojai, California.
He Is Also A Novelist
According to and Claire Danes in the cast.
This shows Martin is multi-talented as a writer, writing both plays and novels. While the two novellas have their own identity, they have similarities: they both have lonely protagonists and are set in California. In Shopgirl, Mirabelle Buttersfield, a 28-year-old woman from Vermont is living in Beverly Hills selling shoes at Neiman Marcus. The Pleasure of My Company has Daniel Pecan Cambridge, an autistic man with O.C.D. in a Santa Monica apartment. An Object of Beauty is the most different as it is set in NYC and features a very outgoing protagonist in Lacey Yeager.
He Plays The Banjo
In addition to all of Steve Martin's other talents he is a talented musician and plays the banjo. Wide Open Country states that Martin first got to perform the banjo on TV when a writer on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour - performing the song "Cripple Creek." In 2009, Martin released his first album The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, which won the 2010 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.
This progression shows how far Martin has come in banjo performance, earning him achievements such as getting a Grammy Award. Martin has an interesting reason behind his banjo playing as well: "The reason I played it on stage is because my act was so crazy I thought it's probably good to show the audience I can do something that looks hard, because this act looks like I'm just making it up. I really wasn't. I worked very hard on it." He even showed off his banjo playing skills during a skit on Conan.
Friendship with Martin Short
Steve Martin is a good friend in real life with his Three Amigos!, Father of the Bride, and Only Murders in the Building co-star Martin Short. According to People Magazine, the two have reunited numerous times including doing stand-up together in a show titled An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life which was filmed as a comedy special for Netflix.
Martin and Short's friendship really comes through in their current series Only Murders in the Building, and their long working partnership is a result of that. The fact that they have not only acted together but done standup comedy together is reflected in their onscreen performances in Only Murders. The two have a very similar dynamic, both in this series and in their standup.
Surprise Wedding
The Pink Panther sequel.
The fact that Martin had a surprise wedding shows that even off-screen he still has a sense of humor and a need to surprise audiences. The fact that he had his Inspector Clouseau mustache just makes it a bit more memorable as well. The wedding guests are sure to have an interesting story to tell about it for years to come.