BACKSTORY: Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright,and producer. Martin came to public notice as a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and later became a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. Since the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, Martin has become a successful actor in both comedic and dramatic roles, as well as an author, playwright, pianist, and banjo player, eventually earning Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards, among other honors.
The first photo shows Steve Martin making his debut as a baby; photo two shows him at age 8; photos three and four show a young Steve at Disneyland in 1957 when he was selling Guidebooks. The next 3 rare photos are from June 1965 at Knott's Berry Farm's Bird Cage Theater and show a young Steve Martin doing some of his first live theater work. He is performing in an abridged version of the Tom Taylor play “Our American Cousin,” best known as the piece being performed at Ford’s Theater the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Martin recalls that during each performance (which lasted about 30 minutes), there was an announced pause at the same section where Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Although there wasn’t any adlibbing during this comedic melodrama, pratfalls or fateful accidents that garnered a guffaw were often kept in the play for future performances.
