"You now have a Swiss bank account if anybody asks. Crédit Nationale Du Génève code name 'PADDY'. Lavish awkward gesture. All of fifteen Swiss Francs in it, but if you ever want to impress anybody, they can find out you have a Swiss account. But, Swiss law prohibits the bank from revealing the balance. Thus are all men made equal."
STEVE MARTIN (Jimmy Dell), the TV and movie comic, has written a number of acclaimed plays and films, from his 1978 Oscar-nominated short, "The Absent-Minded Waiter," to "The Jerk," "L.A. Story," and his modernized scripts of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Silas Marner" as "Roxanne" and "A Simple Twist of Fate." Born in Waco, Texas, and raised in California, he got his start in show business at age ten by selling guidebooks and performing magic tricks at Disneyland. After majoring in philosophy in college, he wrote for television comedy shows, winning an Emmy for his work on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," before performing his own material and becoming a star on "Saturday Night Live." His comedy albums, "Let's Get Small" and "A Wild and Crazy Guy," won Grammy Awards and his single "King Tut" became a gold record. Martin also collected writing and acting awards for the films "Roxanne" (L.A. Film Critics Award for Best Actor) and "All of Me" (N.Y. Film Critics Award for Best Actor). In 1988, he starred in Mike Nichols's stage production of "Waiting for Godot," opposite Robin Williams, at New York's Lincoln Center. Martin's first play, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," was produced by the Steppenwolf Company in Chicago and off-Broadway, and four of his one-act plays were staged by New York's Joseph Papp Public Theater in 1995. Martin will next star with Goldie Hawn in a new version of Neil Simon's classic comedy "The Out-of-Towners."
Filmography:
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978, dir. Michael Shultz)
"The Jerk" (1979, dir. Carl Reiner), also screenplay
"The Kids Are Alright" (1979, dir. Jeff Stein)
"The Muppet Movie" (1979, dir. James Frawley)
"Pennies From Heaven" (1981, dir. Herbert Ross)
"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" (1982, dir. Carl Reiner), also screenplay
"The Man With Two Brains" (1983, dir. Carl Reiner), also screenplay
"The Lonely Guy" (1984, dir. Arthur Hiller)
"All of Me" (1984, dir. Carl Reiner)
"Movers and Shakers" (1985, dir. William Asher)
"Little Shop of Horrors" (1986, dir. Frank Oz)
"Three Amigos!" (1986, dir. John Landis), also screenplay, executive producer
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987, dir. John Hughes)
"Roxanne" (1987, dir. Fred Schepisi), also screenplay, executive producer
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (1988, dir. Frank Oz)
"Parenthood" (1989, dir. Ron Howard)
"My Blue Heaven" (1990, dir. Herbert Ross)
"Father of the Bride" (1991, dir. Charles Shyer)
"Grand Canyon" (1991, dir. Lawrence Kasdan)
"L.A. Story" (1991, dir. Mick Jackson), also screenplay, executive producer
"Leap of Faith" (1992, dir. Richard Pearce)
"Housesitter" (1992, dir. Frank Oz)
"And the Band Played On" (1993, dir. Roger Spottiswoode)
"Mixed Nuts" (1994, dir. Nora Ephron)
"A Simple Twist of Fate" (1994, dir. Gillies MacKinnon), also screenplay, exec. producer
"Father of the Bride Part II" (1995, dir. Charles Shyer)
"Sgt. Bilko" (1996, dir. Jonathan Lynn)
"The Spanish Prisoner" (1998, dir. David Mamet)
"The Prince of Egypt" (1998, anim., dir. Brenda Chapman/Stephen Hickner/Simon Wells)