Comic Steve Martin will be honoured with the 43rd American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating his career in film. The award will be presented to Martin at a gala tribute in Los Angeles, California on June 4, 2015.
Martin began his career writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, winning an Emmy in 1969. He went on to forge a career in comedy before his first film - seven-minute short The Absent-Minded Waiter - was nominated for an Academy Award in 1977. His break-out role came in 1979's The Jerk, which he also co-wrote, and he went on to star in a string of comedy hits, including Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Little Shop Of Horrors and Planes, Trains And Automobiles.
Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees Sir Howard Stringer said: "Steve Martin is an American original. From a wild and crazy stand-up comic to one who stands tall among the great figures in this American art form, he is a multi-layered creative force bound by neither convention nor caution. His work is defined by him alone, for he is the author – and a national treasure whose work has stuck with us like an arrow in the head. AFI is proud to present him with its 43rd Life Achievement Award."
Previous recipients of the award include Mel Brooks, Clint Eastwood and Jane Fonda.
