Comedian-actor-director Steve Martin has never been nominated for a legitimate, competitive Oscar, not even for “All of Me.” This year, the Academy showed the industry’s respect with an compensatory Honorary Oscar.
Variety on Steve Martin
Images of the actor:
Flanked by Martin Short and Chevy Chase in “Three Amigos,” angrily separating hot-dog buns in “Father of the Bride,” turning his body into a glorious slapstick vessel in “All of Me” (perhaps his greatest film performance). What struck me then, as it does now, was the sheer physical commitment on display, a wondrous elasticity of face and form that harks back to a largely bygone tradition of screen comedy; it’s a talent not particularly well served by Hollywood these days, To watch his brilliant, risky performance in “Pennies From Heaven” or his exquisite, underloved romantic comedy “Shopgirl” is to hope that he may yet have a surprise or two in store.
