Coordinates	5°33′27.30″N80°49′20.28″N
Name	Banjo
Image capt	A modern 5-string banjo
Background	string
Hornbostel sachs	321.322-5
Hornbostel sachs desc	Composite chordophone sounded by the bare fingers
Developed	18th century
Range	200px
Midi	105/106
Articles	}}

The banjo is a stringed instrument with, typically, four or five strings, which vibrate a membrane of plastic material or animal hide stretched over a circular frame. Simpler forms of the instrument were fashioned by enslaved Africans in Colonial America, adapted from several African instruments of the same basic design.

The banjo is usually associated with country, folk, classical music, Irish traditional music and bluegrass music. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in African traditional music, before becoming popular in the minstrel shows of the 19th century. In fact, blacks influenced early development of the music that became country and bluegrass, through the introduction of the banjo and through the innovation of musical techniques for both the banjo and fiddle. The banjo, with the fiddle, is a mainstay of American old-time music.

Recently, the banjo has enjoyed inclusion in a wide variety of musical genres, including pop crossover music, indie rock and Celtic punk.

History

There are several theories concerning the origin of the name ''banjo''. It may derive from the Kimbundu term ''mbanza''. Some etymologists believe it comes from a dialectal pronunciation of the Portuguese "bandore" or from an early anglicisation of the Spanish word "bandurria", though other research suggests that it may come from a Senegambian term for a bamboo stick formerly used for the instrument's neck.

Another theory believes the name may find its origin in the name of music professor, Steven Banjo, a prominent citizen of St. Louis, Missouri around the turn of the century. The song "Banjos" featured in the Broadway version of "Meet Me In St. Louis" (based on the popular Judy Garland film of the same name) pays homage to this great man in history.

Various instruments are known in Africa with a skin head and gourd (or similar shell) body. The African instruments differ from early Afro American banjos in that the necks do not possess a Western-style fingerboard and tuning pegs, instead having stick necks, with strings attached to the neck with loops for tuning. Banjos with fingerboards and tuning pegs are known from the Caribbean as early as the 17th Century. 18th and early 19th century writers transcribed the name of these instruments variously as "bangie", "banza", "banjer" and "banjar". Instruments similar to the banjo (e.g., the Japanese ''shamisen'', Persian ''tar'' and Morroccan ''sintir'') have been played in many countries. Another likely ancestor of the banjo is the ''akonting'', a spike folk lute played by the Jola tribe of Senegambia, and the ''ubaw-akwala'' of the Igbo. Similar instruments include the ''xalam'' of Senegal and the ''ngoni'' of the Wassoulou region including parts of Mali, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast as well as a larger variation of the ngoni developed in Moroccan by sub-Saharan Africans known as the Gimbri .

Early, African-influenced banjos were built around a gourd body and a wooden stick neck. These instruments had varying numbers of strings, though often including some form of drone. The five-string banjo was popularized by Joel Walker Sweeney, an American minstrel performer from Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new banjo came to be tuned g'cgbd'. This is not quite a straight transposition of the e'aeg#b' tuning of the banjar; the B string of the banjo has the lowest pitch (a straight transposition would be g'c'gbd'.) Banjos were introduced in Britain by Sweeney's group, the American Virginia Minstrels, in the 1840s, and became very popular in music halls.

The modern banjo

The modern banjo comes in a variety of forms, including four- and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similarly to a guitar, has gained popularity. In almost all of its forms, banjo playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, though there are many different playing styles.

The body, or "pot", of a modern banjo typically consists of a circular rim (generally made of wood, though metal was also common on older banjos) and a tensioned head, similar to a drum head. Traditionally the head was made from animal skin, but today is often made of various synthetic materials. Most modern banjos also have a metal "tone ring" assembly that helps further clarify and project the sound, however many older banjos did not include a tone ring

The banjo is usually tuned with friction tuning pegs or planetary gear tuners, rather than the worm gear machine head used on guitars. Frets have become standard since the late 19th century, though fretless banjos are still manufactured and played by those wishing to execute glissando or otherwise achieve the sound and feeling of early playing styles.

Modern banjos are typically strung with metal strings. Usually the fourth string is wound with either steel or bronze-phosphor alloy. Some players may string their banjos with nylon or gut strings to achieve a more mellow, old-time tone.

Open-back and resonator

Some banjos have a separate resonator plate on the back of the pot, designed to project the sound forward and give the instrument more volume. This type of banjo is usually used in bluegrass music, though resonator banjos are played by players of all styles, and are also used in old-time as a substitute for electric amplification when playing in large venues.

Open-back banjos generally have a mellower tone and weigh less than resonator banjos. They usually have a different setup than a resonator banjo, often with a higher string action (string action refers to how high the strings are positioned above the fingerboard.)

== Five-string banjo ==

The modern 5-string banjo is a variation on Sweeney's original design. The fifth string is usually the same gauge as the first, but starts from the fifth fret, three quarters the length of the other strings. (The long-necked Vega Pete Seeger model starts the fifth string from the eighth fret.) This lets the string be tuned to a higher open pitch than possible for the full-length strings. The short fifth string means that, unlike many string instruments, strings pitches on a five string banjo do not go in order from lowest to highest across the fingerboard. Instead, from low to high, they go fourth, third, second, first, and fifth. This is a form of reentrant tuning.

The short fifth string presents special problems for a capo. For small changes (going up or down one or two semitones, for example) it is possible simply to re-tune the fifth string. Otherwise, various devices called ''fifth string capos'' can effectively shorten the string. Many banjo players use model railroad spikes or titanium spikes (usually installed at the seventh fret and sometimes at others), that they hook the string under to press it down on the fret.

Many tunings are used for the five-string banjo. Probably the most common, particularly in bluegrass, is the Open-G tuning g'dgbd'. In earlier times, the tuning g'cgbd' was commonly used instead. Other tunings found in old-time music include double C (g'cgc'd'), "sawmill" (g'dgc'd') also called "mountain modal" and open D (f#'df#ad'.) These tunings are often taken up a tone, either by tuning up or using a capo. For example "old-time D" tuning (a'dad'e') - commonly reached by tuning up from double C - is often played to accompany fiddle tunes in the key of D and Open-A (a'eac#'e') is usually used for playing tunes in the key of A.

While the size of the five string banjo is largely standardized, smaller and larger sizes are available including the long-neck or ''Seeger neck'' variation designed by Pete Seeger. Petite variations on the 5-string banjo have been available since the 1890s. S.S. Stewart introduced the banjeaurine, tuned one fourth above a standard five-string. Piccolo banjos are smaller, and tuned one octave above a standard banjo. Between these sizes and the standard there is the A-scale banjo, which is two frets shorter and usually tuned one full step above standard tunings. A "Stealth" brand banjo is a modern 5 string banjo with a 22.5" scale length, similar to a guitar.

American old-time music typically uses the five-string open back banjo. It is played in a number of different styles, the most common being clawhammer or frailing, characterized by the use of a downward rather than upward motion when striking the strings with a fingernail. Frailing techniques use the thumb to catch the fifth string for a drone after each strum or twice in each action ("double thumbing"), or to pick out additional melody notes in what is known as "drop-thumb." Pete Seeger popularised a folk style by combining clawhammer with "up picking", usually without the use of fingerpicks. Another common style of old-time banjo playing is ''Fingerpicking banjo'' or ''classic banjo''. This style is based upon parlor-style guitar.

thumb|right|175px|Forward roll .Bluegrass music, which uses the five-string resonator banjo almost exclusively, is played in several common styles. These include Scruggs style, named after Earl Scruggs; melodic, or Keith style, named for Bill Keith; and three-finger style with single string work, also called Reno style after Don Reno. In these styles the emphasis is on arpeggiated figures played in a continuous eighth-note rhythm, known as rolls. All of these styles are typically played with fingerpicks.

The five-string banjo has been used in classical music since before the turn of the 20th century. Contemporary and modern works have been written or arranged for the instrument by Buck Trent, Béla Fleck, Tony Trischka, Steve Martin, Tim Lake, George Crumb, Modest Mouse, Jo Kondo, Paul Elwood, Hans Werner Henze (notably in his Sixth Symphony), Daniel Mason of Hank Williams III's Damn Band, Beck, the Water Tower Bucket Boys, J.P. Pickens, Peggy Honeywell, Norfolk & Western, Putnam Smith, Iron & Wine, The Avett Brothers, and Sufjan Stevens.

The first 5-string electric solid-body banjo was developed by Charles (Buck) Wilburn Trent, Harold "Shot" Jackson, and David Jackson in 1960.

Four-string banjos

The plectrum banjo is a standard banjo without the short drone string. It usually has 22 frets on the neck and a scale length of 26 to 28 inches, and was originally tuned cgbd'. It can also be tuned like the top four strings of a guitar, which is known as "Chicago tuning." As the name suggests, it is usually played with a guitar-style pick (that is, a single one held between thumb and forefinger), unlike the five-string banjo, which is either played with a thumbpick and two fingerpicks, or with bare fingers. The plectrum banjo evolved out of the five-string banjo, to cater to styles of music involving strummed chords. The plectrum is also featured in many early jazz recordings and arrangements.

The shorter-necked, tenor banjo is also typically played with a plectrum. It became a popular instrument after about 1910. Early models used for melodic picking typically had 17 frets on the neck and a scale length of 19½ to 21½ inches. By the mid-1920s, when the instrument was used primarily for strummed chordal accompaniment, 19-fret necks with a scale length of 21¾ to 23 inches became standard. The usual tuning is cgd'a', like a viola or mandola, but some players (particularly in Irish traditional music) tune it Gdae′ like an octave mandolin, which lets the banjoist duplicate fiddle and mandolin fingering. The invention and/or popularisation of this tuning is usually attributed to Barney McKenna, banjoist with The Dubliners.

The tenor banjo was a common rhythm instrument in early 20th-century dance bands. Its volume and timbre suited early jazz (and jazz-influenced popular music styles) and could both compete with other instruments (such as brass instruments and saxophones) and be heard clearly on acoustic recordings. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, in Ferde Grofe's original jazz orchestra arrangement, includes tenor banjo, with widely-spaced chords not easily playable on plectrum banjo in its conventional tuning(s). With development of the archtop and electric guitar, the tenor banjo largely disappeared from jazz and popular music, though keeping its place in traditional "Dixieland" jazz.

Rarer than either the tenor or plectrum banjo is the cello banjo. It's normally tuned CGda, one octave below the tenor banjo like the cello and mandocello. It played a role in banjo orchestras in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bass banjos have been produced in both upright bass formats and with standard, horizontally-carried banjo bodies.

Four-string banjos, both plectrum and tenor, can be used strictly for chordal accompaniment (as in early jazz), strictly for single string melody playing (as in Irish traditional music), in "chord melody" style (a succession of chords are played in which the highest notes carry the melody), in tremolo style (both on chords and single strings) and a mixed technique called duo style, which combines single string tremolo and rhythm chords. Fingerstyle opportunities of tenor banjo retuned to open G tuning dgd'g' or lower open D tuning Adad' (three finger picking, frailing) are explored by Mirek Patek.

Eddie Peabody was the greatest proponent of the plectrum banjo in the early to mid twentieth century. Johnny Baier, Bill Lowrey, Steve Peterson, and Buddy Wachter are prominent contemporary four-string banjoists currently working professionally. Harry Reser, who also played plectrum banjo, was arguably the best tenor banjoist of the same era and wrote a large number of works for tenor banjo as well as instructional material. He was well known in the banjo player community up until his passing in 1965. His single string and "chord melody" technique and ability arguably set the "high mark" that many subsequent tenor players endeavor to attain. Other prominent professional tenor performers were Mike Pingitore and Roy Smeck. Smeck was an influential performer on many fretted instruments, including the four-string banjo. He also wrote a number of solos and instructional books. Prominent contemporary tenor players are Don Vappie, Ken Aoki, Steve Di Bonaventura, David Bandrowski, the late Narvin Kimball of Preservation Hall Jazz Band fame, and Charlie Tagawa. Tagawa has been the music director of the Peninsula Banjo Band, one of the most prominent banjo bands in the U.S., since 1966. He was a student and devotee of Harry Reser. In the United Kingdom, Frank Lawes was one of the most prolific composers of four string banjo music.

The four-string banjo is used from time to time in musical theater. Examples include: Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Chicago, Cabaret, Oklahoma!, Half a Sixpence, Annie, Barnum, The Threepenny Opera, Monty Python's Spamalot, and countless others. Joe Raposo had used it variably. in the imaginative 7-piece orchestration for the long-running TV show Sesame Street, and has sometimes had it overdubbed with itself or an electric guitar. The banjo is still (albeit rarely) in use in the show's arrangement currently.

Six-string banjos

The 6-string banjo began as a British innovation by William Temlet, one of England's earliest banjo makers. He opened a shop in London in 1846, and sold banjos with closed backs and up to 7 strings. He marketed these as "zither" Banjos from his 1869 patent. American Alfred Davis Cammeyer (1862–1949), a young violinist-turned banjo concert player, devised the 5/6-string Zither banjo around 1880. It had a wood resonator and metal "wire" strings (the 1st and 2nd melody strings and 5th "thumb" string. The 3rd melody string was gut and the 4th was silk covered) as well as frets and guitar-style tuning machines.

A Zither banjo usually has a closed back and sides with the drum body (usually metal) and skin tensioning system suspended inside the wooden rim/back, the neck and string tailpiece was mounted on the wooden outer rim, the short string usually led through a tube in the neck so that the tuning peg could be mounted on the peg head. They were often made by builders who used guitar tuners that came in banks of three and so if 5 stringed had a redundant tuner. The banjos could also be somewhat easily converted over to a six string banjo. British opera diva Adelina Patti advised Cammeyer that the zither-banjo might be popular with English audiences (which was certainly true as it was invented there), and Cammeyer went to London in 1888. Due to his virtuoso playing he helped show that banjos could be used for more sophisticated music than was normally played by blackface minstrels, he was soon performing for London society, where he met Sir Arthur Sullivan, who recommended that Cammeyer progress from writing banjo arrangements of music to composing his own music. (Interesting to note that, supposedly unbeknownst to Cammeyer, William Temlett had patented a 7-string closed back banjo in 1869, and was already marketing it as a "zither-banjo.")

In the late 1890s Banjo maker F.C Wilkes developed a 6-string version of the banjo with the 6th string "tunnelled" through the neck. It is arguable that Arthur O. Windsor had much influence in creating and perfecting the Zither banjo and creating the open-back banjo along with other modifications to the banjo type instruments, such as the non-solid attached resonator that banjos' today have (Gibson lays claim to this modification on the American Continent). Windsor claims to be the first in creating the hollow neck banjo with a truss rod, and he buried the 5th string in the neck after the 5th fret so to put the tuning peg on the peg-head rather than in the neck. Gibson lays claim to perfecting the banjo with the tone rings.

The six-string or banjitar was the instrument of the early jazz great Johnny St. Cyr, as well as of jazzmen Django Reinhardt, Danny Barker, Papa Charlie Jackson and Clancy Hayes, as well as the blues and gospel singer The Reverend Gary Davis. Nowadays, it sometimes appears under such names as guitanjo, guitjo, ganjo, banjitar, or bantar. Today, musicians as diverse as Keith Urban, Rod Stewart, Taj Mahal, Joe Satriani, David Hidalgo and Doc Watson play the 6-String banjo.

Rhythm guitarist Dave Day of 1960's proto-punks The Monks replaced his guitar with a six-string, gut-strung banjo on which he played guitar chords. This instrument sounds much more metallic, scratchy and wiry than a standard electric guitar, due to its amplification via a small microphone stuck inside the banjo's body.

Banjo hybrids and variants

A number of hybrid instruments exist, crossing the banjo with other stringed instruments. Most of these use the body of a banjo, often with a resonator, and the neck of the other instrument. Examples include the banjo mandolin, the Banjolin, and the banjo ukulele or banjolele, most famously played by the English comedian George Formby. These were especially popular in the early decades of the twentieth century, and were probably a result of a desire either to allow players of other instruments to jump on the banjo bandwagon at the height of its popularity, or to get the natural amplification benefits of the banjo resonator in an age before electric amplification.

Instruments using the five-string banjo neck on a wooden body (for example, that of a bouzouki or resonator guitar) have also been made, such as the banjola. A 20th-Century Turkish instrument very similar to the banjo is called cümbüs.

See also

African American music

List of banjo bands (worldwide)

List of banjo players

Bluegrass music

Country music

Prewar Gibson banjo

Double-neck guitjo

Stringed instrument tunings

Irish Traditional Music

Banjo (samba)

Banjo roll

Benju

Bulbul tarang

Mandolin-banjo

Scruggs style

Clawhammer

References

Further reading

Banjo history

Conway, Cecelia (1995). ''African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions'', University of Tennessee Press. Paper: ISBN 0-87049-893-2; cloth: ISBN 0-87049-892-4. A study of the influence of African Americans on banjo playing throughout U.S. history.

Gura, Philip F. and James F. Bollman (1999). ''America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century''. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2484-4. The definitive history of the banjo, focusing on the instrument's development in the 1800s.

Katonah Museum of Art (2003). ''The Birth of the Banjo''. Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York. ISBN 0-915171-64-3.

Linn, Karen (1994). ''That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture.'' University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06433-X. Scholarly cultural history of the banjo, focusing on how its image has evolved over the years.

Tsumura, Akira (1984). ''Banjos: The Tsumura Collection''. Kodansha International Ltd. ISBN 0-87011-605-3. An illustrated history of the banjo featuring the world's premier collection.

Webb, Robert Lloyd (1996). ''Ring the Banjar!''. 2nd edition. Centerstream Publishing. ISBN 1-57424-016-1. A short history of the banjo, with pictures from an exhibition at the MIT Museum.

External links

Frailing banjo instruction

Old-Time Banjo Music from Rural America

''To Hear Your Banjo Play'', 1947 Alan Lomax film (16 minutes)

''Old Time Banjo'' (e-book) by Patrick Costello

Fingerstyle Tenor Banjo

Tony Trischka School of Banjo (TTSB)

Banjo Newsletter

Banjo Hangout

Free Windows application with chord charts for banjo

Online, Open-Source Banjo Chord Generator

Dr Joan Dickerson, Sparky Rucker, and George Gibson with host Michael Johnathon explore the ''African-American History of the Banjo'' through conversation and music on show 350 of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Both audio and video are provided.

Category:String instruments Category:Banjo family instruments Category:Pop culture words of Bantu origin Category:Bluegrass music Category:American musical instruments Category:Celtic musical instruments Category:Irish musical instruments

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:''This article is about the performer. For other people named Steve Martin, see Steve Martin (disambiguation).''

Coordinates	5°33′27.30″N80°49′20.28″N
name	Steve Martin
birth name	Stephen Glenn Martin
birth date	August 14, 1945
birth place	Waco, Texas, United States
medium	Stand-up, television, film, music, publishing
nationality	American
active	1967–present
genre	Improvisational, sketch, slapstick, bluegrass
influences	British television, Red Skelton, Jerry Lewis, Jack Benny, Laurel and Hardy, Wally Boag
influenced	Eddie Izzard, Chris Rock, Judd Apatow, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Bridges, Dane Cook, Brian Posehn, Bo Burnham, Will Forte, David Walliams, Sarah Silverman, Will Arnett, Jon Stewart, Harry Hill, Vic Reeves, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., Tina Fey, Russell Peters, Howie Mandel, Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Artie Lange
spouse	Victoria Tennant (November 20, 1986–1994)Anne Stringfield (2007–present)
signature	SteveMartin.png
website	www.stevemartin.com

}}

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer.

Martin was born in Waco, Texas, and raised in Southern California, where his early influences were working at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and working magic and comedy acts at these and other smaller venues in the area. His ascent to fame picked up when he became 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. Since the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, he has become a successful actor, playwright, pianist, banjo player, and juggler, eventually earning Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards.

Early life

Martin was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Mary Lee Martin and Glenn Vernon Martin, a real estate salesman and an aspiring actor. Martin was raised in Inglewood, California, and then later in Garden Grove, California, in a Baptist family. One of his earliest memories is of seeing his father, as an extra, serving drinks onstage at the Call Board Theatre on Melrose Place. During World War II, in England, Martin's father had appeared in a production of ''Our Town'' with Raymond Massey. Years later, he would write to Massey for help in Steve's fledgling career, but would receive no reply. Expressing his affection through gifts of cars, bikes, etc., Martin's father was stern, not emotionally open to his son. He was proud but critical, with Martin later recalling that in his teens his feelings for his father were mostly ones of hatred. Martin's first job was at Disneyland, selling guidebooks on weekends and full-time during the summer school break. That lasted for three years (1955–1958). During his free time he frequented the Main Street Magic shop, where tricks were demonstrated to potential customers. By 1960, he had mastered several of the tricks and illusions, and took a paying job there in August. There he perfected his talents for magic, juggling, and creating balloon animals, frequently performing for tips. In his authorized biography, close friend Morris Walker suggests that Martin could "be described most accurately as an agnostic [...] he rarely went to church and was never involved in organized religion of his own volition".

Comedy

After high school graduation, Martin attended Santa Ana Junior College, taking classes in drama and English poetry. In his free time, he teamed up with friend and Garden Grove High School classmate Kathy Westmoreland to participate in comedies and other productions at the Bird Cage Theatre. He joined a comedy troupe at Knott's Berry Farm. Later, he met budding actress Stormie Sherk, and they developed comedy routines while becoming romantically involved. Sherk's influence caused Martin to apply to the California State University, Long Beach, for enrollment with a major in Philosophy. Stormie enrolled at UCLA, about an hour's drive north, and the distance eventually caused them to lead separate lives.

Being inspired by his philosophy classes, for a short while he considered becoming a professor instead of an actor-comedian. His time at college changed his life. "It changed what I believe and what I think about everything. I majored in philosophy. Something about non-sequiturs appealed to me. In philosophy, I started studying logic, and they were talking about cause and effect, and you start to realize, 'Hey, there is no cause and effect! There is no logic! There is no anything!' Then it gets real easy to write this stuff, because all you have to do is twist everything hard—you twist the punch line, you twist the non sequitur so hard away from the things that set it up". In an article in ''Smithsonian'' magazine he recalled, "In a college psychology class, I had read a treatise on comedy explaining that a laugh was formed when the storyteller created tension, then, with the punch line, released it. I didn't quite get this concept, nor do I still [...]. What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation. [...] My first reviews came in. One said, 'This so-called "comedian" should be told that jokes are supposed to have punch lines.' Another said I represented 'the most serious booking error in the history of Los Angeles music.' " Martin periodically spoofed his philosophy studies in his 1970s stand-up act, comparing philosophy with studying geology. "If you're studying geology, which is all facts, as soon as you get out of school you forget it all, but philosophy you remember just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life."

In 1967, Martin transferred to UCLA and switched his major to theater. While attending college, he appeared in an episode of ''The Dating Game''. Martin began working local clubs at night, to mixed notices, and at twenty-one he dropped out of college.

Career

Early career – stand-up

In 1967, his former girlfriend Nina Goldblatt, a dancer on ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'', helped Martin land a writing job with the show by submitting his work to head writer Mason Williams. Williams initially paid Martin out of his own pocket. Along with the other writers for the show, Martin won an Emmy Award in 1969, aged 23. He also wrote for John Denver (a neighbor of his in Aspen, Colorado, at one point), ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'', and ''The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.'' Martin's first TV appearance was on ''The Steve Allen Show'' in 1969. He says: "[I] appeared on ''The Virginia Graham Show,'' circa 1970. I looked grotesque. I had a hairdo like a helmet, which I blow-dried to a puffy bouffant, for reasons I no longer understand. I wore a frock coat and a silk shirt, and my delivery was mannered, slow and self-aware. I had absolutely no authority. After reviewing the show, I was depressed for a week." During these years his roommates included comedian Gary Mule Deer and singer/guitarist Michael Johnson. Martin opened for groups such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Carpenters, and Toto. He appeared at San Francisco's ''The Boarding House'', among other venues. He continued to write, earning an Emmy nomination for his work on ''Van Dyke and Company'' in 1976.

In the mid-1970s, Martin made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''., and on ''The Gong Show'', HBO's ''On Location'' and NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). ''SNL'''s audience jumped by a million viewers when he made guest appearances, though despite a common misconception, he was never a cast member. Martin has guest-hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' 15 times, as of January 2009, tied in numbers of presentations with host Alec Baldwin. On the show, Martin popularized the air quotes gesture, which uses four fingers to make double quote marks in the air. While on the show Martin became close with several of the cast members, including Gilda Radner. On the day Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989, Martin was hosting ''SNL'' and featured footage of himself and Radner together in a 1978 sketch.

His TV appearances in the 1970s led to the release of comedy albums that went platinum. The track "Excuse Me" on his first album, ''Let's Get Small'', helped establish a national catch phrase. His next album, ''A Wild and Crazy Guy'' (1978), was an even bigger success, reaching the No.2 spot on the US sales chart, selling over a million copies. "Just a wild and crazy guy" became another of Martin's known catch phrases. The album featured a character based on a series of ''Saturday Night Live'' sketches where Martin and Dan Aykroyd played "Georgi" and "Yortuk" the Festrunk Brothers, a couple of bumbling Czechoslovak would-be playboys. The album ends with the song "King Tut", sung and written by Martin and backed by the "Toot Uncommons", members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was later released as a single, reaching No.17 on the US charts in 1978 and selling over a million copies. The song came out during the King Tut craze that accompanied the popular traveling exhibit of the Egyptian king's tomb artifacts. Both albums won Grammys for ''Best Comedy Recording'' in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Martin performed "King Tut" on the April 22, 1978 edition of ''SNL''.

On his comedy albums, Martin's stand-up is self-referential and sometimes self-mocking. It mixes philosophical riffs with sudden spurts of "happy feet", banjo playing with balloon depictions of concepts like venereal disease, and the controversial kitten juggling (he is a master juggler). His style is off-kilter and ironic, and sometimes pokes fun at stand-up comedy traditions, such as Martin opening his act (from ''A Wild and Crazy Guy'') by saying, "I think there's nothing better for a person to come up and do the same thing over and over for two weeks. This is what I enjoy, so I'm going to do the same thing over and over and over [...] I'm going to do the same joke over and over in the same show, it'll be like a new thing." Or: "Hello, I'm Steve Martin, and I'll be out here in a minute." In one comedy routine, used on the ''Comedy Is Not Pretty!'' album, Martin claimed that his real name was "Gern Blanston". The riff took on a life of its own. There is a Gern Blanston website, and for a time a rock band took the moniker as their name. He stopped stand-up in 1981 to concentrate on movies and never went back.

Acting career – film

By the end of the 1970s, Martin had acquired the kind of following normally reserved for rock stars, with his tour appearances typically occurring at sold-out arenas filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans. But unknown to his audience, stand-up comedy was "just an accident" for him; his real goal was to get into film.

Martin's first film was a short, ''The Absent-Minded Waiter'' (1977). The seven-minute-long film, also featuring Buck Henry and Teri Garr, was written by and starred Martin. The film was nominated for an Academy Award as ''Best Short Film, Live Action''. He made his first feature film appearance in the musical ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', where he sang The Beatles' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". In 1979, Martin co-wrote and starred in his first full-length movie, ''The Jerk'', directed by Carl Reiner. The movie was a huge success, grossing over $100 million on a budget of approximately $4 million.

Stanley Kubrick met with him to discuss the possibility of Martin starring in a screwball comedy version of ''Traumnovelle'' (Kubrick later changed his approach to the material, the result of which was 1999's ''Eyes Wide Shut''). Martin was executive producer for ''Domestic Life'', a prime-time television series starring friend Martin Mull, and a late-night series called ''Twilight Theater''. It emboldened Martin to try his hand at his first serious film, ''Pennies from Heaven'', a movie he was anxious to perform in because of his desire to avoid being typecast. To prepare for that film, Martin took acting lessons from director Herbert Ross, and spent months learning how to tap dance. The film was a financial failure; Martin's comment at the time was "I don't know what to blame, other than it's me and not a comedy."

Martin was in three more Reiner-directed comedies after ''The Jerk'': ''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'' in 1982, ''The Man with Two Brains'' in 1983 and ''All of Me'' in 1984, possibly his most critically acclaimed comic performance to date. In 1986, Martin joined fellow ''Saturday Night Live'' veterans Martin Short and Chevy Chase in ''¡Three Amigos!'', directed by John Landis, and written by Martin, Lorne Michaels, and singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It was originally entitled ''The Three Caballeros'' and Martin was to be teamed with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. In 1986, Martin was in the movie musical film version of the hit Off-Broadway play ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (based on a famous B-movie), playing the sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello. The film was the first of three films teaming Martin with Rick Moranis. In 1987, Martin joined comedian John Candy in the John Hughes movie ''Planes, Trains & Automobiles.'' That same year, ''Roxanne'', the film adaptation of ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' which Martin co-wrote, won him a Writers Guild of America, East award. It also garnered recognition from Hollywood and the public that he was more than a comedian. In 1988, he performed in the Frank Oz remake of ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'' alongside Michael Caine.

Martin starred in the Ron Howard film ''Parenthood'', with Moranis in 1989. He later met with Moranis to make the Mafia comedy ''My Blue Heaven'' in 1990. In 1991, Martin starred in and wrote ''L.A. Story'', a romantic comedy, in which the female lead was played by his then-wife Victoria Tennant. Martin also appeared in Lawrence Kasdan's ''Grand Canyon'', in which he played the tightly-wound Hollywood film producer, Davis, who was recovering from a traumatic robbery that left him injured, which was a more serious role for him. Martin also appeared in a remake of the comedy ''Father of the Bride'' in 1991 (followed by a sequel in 1995). He starred in the 1992 comedy ''HouseSitter'', with Goldie Hawn and Dana Delany.

In David Mamet's 1997 thriller, ''The Spanish Prisoner'', Martin played a darker role as a wealthy stranger who takes a suspicious interest in the work of a young businessman (Campbell Scott). He went on to star with Eddie Murphy in the 1999 comedy ''Bowfinger,'' which Martin also wrote. He appeared in a version of ''Waiting for Godot'' as Vladimir, with Robin Williams as Estragon and Bill Irwin as Lucky. In 1998, Martin guest starred with U2 in the 200th episode of ''The Simpsons'' titled "Trash of the Titans", providing the voice for sanitation commissioner Ray Patterson. In 1999, Martin and Hawn starred in a remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy, ''The Out-of-Towners''. By 2003, Martin ranked 4th on the box office stars list, after starring in ''Bringing Down The House'' and ''Cheaper By The Dozen'', each of which earned over $130 million at U.S. theaters. That same year, he also played the villainous Mr. Chairman in the animation/live action blend, ''Looney Tunes: Back in Action''.

Martin wrote and starred in ''Shopgirl'' (2005), based on his own novella (2000), and starred in ''Cheaper by the Dozen 2''. He also starred in the box office hit ''The Pink Panther'' in 2006, standing in Peter Sellers's shoes as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, a role which he reprised in 2009's ''The Pink Panther 2''. In ''Baby Mama'' (2008), he played the founder of a health food company, and in ''It's Complicated'' (2009), he played opposite Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. In 2009, an article in ''The Guardian'' listed Martin as one of the best actors never to receive an Oscar nomination.

He is set to appear with Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and JoBeth Williams in the birdwatching comedy ''The Big Year'' in 2011.

Writing

In 1993, Martin wrote his first full length play ''Picasso at the Lapin Agile''. The first reading of the play took place in Beverly Hills, California at Steve Martin's home, with Tom Hanks reading the role of Pablo Picasso and Chris Sarandon reading the role of Albert Einstein. Following this, the play opened at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois, and played from October 1993 to May 1994, then went on to run successfully in Los Angeles, New York City and several other US cities. In 2009, the La Grande, Oregon school board refused to allow the play to be performed after several parents complained about the content. In an open letter in the local ''Observer'' newspaper, Martin wrote "I have heard that some in your community have characterized the play as 'people drinking in bars, and treating women as sex objects.' With apologies to William Shakespeare, this is like calling ''Hamlet'' a play about a castle [...] I will finance a non-profit, off-high school campus production [...] so that individuals, outside the jurisdiction of the school board but within the guarantees of freedom of expression provided by the Constitution of the United States can determine whether they will or will not see the play".

Throughout the 1990s, Martin wrote various pieces for ''The New Yorker''. In 2002, he adapted the Carl Sternheim play ''The Underpants'', which ran Off Broadway at Classic Stage Company and in 2008, co-wrote and produced ''Traitor'', starring Don Cheadle. He has also written the novellas, ''Shopgirl'' (2000), and ''The Pleasure of My Company'' (2003), both more wry in tone than raucous. A story of a 28-year-old woman behind the glove counter at the Neiman Marcus department store in Beverly Hills, ''Shopgirl'' was made into a film starring Martin and Claire Danes. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2005 and was featured at the Chicago International Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival before going into limited release in the US. In 2007, he published a memoir, ''Born Standing Up'', which ''TIME'' magazine named as one of the Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2007, ranking it at #6, and praising it as "a funny, moving, surprisingly frank memoir." In 2010, he published the novel ''An Object of Beauty.'' Writing in ''Modern Painters'', critic Scott Indrisek described the book as a "a limp, hackneyed saga of New York's culture scene from 1997 through the present day" notable for its "gleeful abuse of the simile." In a ''Houston Chronicle'' review of the book, critic Thomas J. Walsh calls it a "tasty light meal ...(many of the chapters are but a page or two)" which "is strongest when Martin frees himself from the little black skirt of his story to editorialize about art." The writer says the work is "a continuation of Martin's medium- to high-brow efforts to tease out the content and meaning of a particular aesthetic that is by turns sublime and commercial but never, ever pedestrian."

Hosting

Martin hosted Academy Awards solo in 2001 and 2003 and with Alec Baldwin in 2010. In 2005, Martin co-hosted ''Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years'', marking the park's anniversary. Disney continued to run the show until March 2009, which now plays in the lobby of ''Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln''.

Music

Martin first picked up the banjo when he was around the age of seventeen. Martin has claimed in several interviews and in his autobiography, "Born Standing Up" that he used to take 33 rpm bluegrass records and slow them down to 16 rpm and tune his banjo down, so the notes would sound the same. Martin was able to pick out each note, and perfect his playing.

Martin learned how to play the banjo with help from John McEun who later joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. McEun's brother later managed Martin as well as the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Martin did his standup routine opening for the band in the early seventies. He had the band play on his hit, "King Tut". The "backup group" Martin used for this song was credited as The Toot Uncommons (Tutankhamen), but they were really The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

The banjo was a staple of Martin's 1970s stand-up career and he periodically poked fun at his love for the instrument. On the ''Comedy Is Not Pretty!'' album he included an all-instrumental jam, titled "Drop Thumb Medley", and played the track on his 1979 concert tour. His final comedy album, 1981's ''The Steve Martin Brothers'', featured one side of Martin's typical stand-up material, with the other side featuring live performances of Steve playing banjo with a bluegrass band.

In 2001, he played banjo on Earl Scruggs's remake of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". The recording was the winner of the Best Country Instrumental Performance category at the following year's Grammys. In 2008, Martin appeared with the band, In the Minds of the Living, during a show in Myrtle Beach.

In 2009, Martin released his first all-music album, ''The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo'' with appearances from stars such as Dolly Parton. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2010. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band member John McEuen produced the Album.

Martin made his first appearance on The Grand Ole Opry on May 30, 2009. In the ''American Idol'' Season 8 Finals, he performed alongside Michael Sarver and Megan Joy in the song "Pretty Flowers". In June, Martin played banjo along with the Steep Canyon Rangers on ''A Prairie Home Companion'', and began a two-month U.S. tour with the Rangers in September, including an appearances at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, Carnegie Hall and Benaroya Hall in Seattle. In November, they went on to play at the Royal Festival Hall in London with support from Mary Black. In 2010, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers appeared at the New Orleans Jazzfest, Merlefest Bluegrass Festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, at Bonnaroo Music Festival, at the ROMP Bluegrass festival in Owensboro, at the Red Butte Garden Concert series and on the BBC's ''Later... with Jools Holland''. Steve Martin performed "Jubilation Day" with the Steep Canyon Rangers on ''The Colbert Report'' on March 21, 2011, on Conan on May 3, 2011 and on BBC's ''The One Show'' on July 6, 2011. Steve Martin performed a song he wrote called "Me and Paul Revere" in addition to two other songs on the lawn of The Capitol Building in Washington, DC at the "Capitol Fourth Celebration" on the 4th of July, 2011.

Personal life

Martin was romantically involved with actress and singer Bernadette Peters, his costar in the films ''The Jerk'' and ''Pennies from Heaven'', during the 1970s and early 1980s. He married actress Victoria Tennant on November 20, 1986, and the union lasted until 1994. On July 28, 2007, after three years together, Martin married Anne Stringfield, a writer and former staffer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey presided over the ceremony at Martin's Los Angeles home. Lorne Michaels, creator of ''Saturday Night Live'', was best man. Several of the guests, including close friends Tom Hanks, Eugene Levy, comedian Carl Reiner, and magician/actor Ricky Jay were not informed that a wedding ceremony would take place. Instead, they were told they were invited to a party, and were surprised by the nuptials.

Investigators at Berlin's state criminal police office (LKA) think that Martin was one victim of a German art forgery scandal. In July 2004 Martin purchased what he believed to be a 1915 work by the German-Dutch painter Heinrich Campendonk, "Landschaft mit Pferden", or "Landscape With Horses", from a Paris gallery for what should have been a bargain price in the neighborhood of €700,000 (around $850,000 at the time). Before the purchase an expert authenticated the work and identified the painter's signature on a label attached to the back. Fifteen months later Martin put the painting up for sale, and auction house Christie's disposed of it in February 2006 to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000 – a loss of €200,000. Police believe the fake Campendonk originated from an invented art collection devised by a group of German swindlers caught in 2010. Skillfully forged paintings from this group were sold to French galleries like the one where Martin bought the forgery.

Awards and honors

1969 Emmy Award – The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (with other writers)

1978 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album – ''Let's Get Small''

1979 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album – ''A Wild and Crazy Guy''.

1989 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from California State University Long Beach 2002 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Earl Scruggs (and others) – banjo performance of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown".

2005 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

2005 Disney Legend award

2007 30th Annual Kennedy Center Honors

2009 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album for his album ''The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo''.

Written works by Martin

''The Jerk'' (1979) (Written with Carl Gottlieb)

''Cruel Shoes'' (1979) (Essays)

''Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays: Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the Zig-Zag Woman, Patter for the Floating Lady, WASP'' (1996) (Play)

''L.A. Story and Roxanne: Two Screenplays'' (published together in 1997) (Screenplays)

''Pure Drivel'' (1998) (Stories)

''Bowfinger'' (1999) (screenplay)

''Eric Fischl : 1970–2000'' (2000) (Afterword)

''Modern Library Humor and Wit Series'' (2000) (Introduction and Series Editor)

''Shopgirl'' (2000) (Novella)

''Kindly Lent Their Owner: The Private Collection of Steve Martin'' (2001) (Art)

''The Underpants: A Play'' (2002) (Play)

''The Pleasure of My Company'' (2003) (Novel)

''The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z'' (2007) (Children's Books illustrated by Roz Chast)

''Born Standing Up'' (2007) (Memoir)

''An Object of Beauty'' (2010) (Novel)

''Late For School'' (2010) (Children's book)

Released stand-up shows

''Steve Martin-Live!'' (1986, VHS)

''Saturday Night Live: The Best Of Steve Martin'' (1998, DVD)

Filmography

style="background:#B0C4DE;"	Year	Film	Role	Notes
1956	''Disneyland Dream''		Documentary
1977	''The Absent-Minded Waiter''		Short Subject
1978		Dr. Maxwell Edison
	''The Muppet Movie''	Insolent Waiter
		Documentary
''The Jerk''	Navin R. Johnson	Also Writer
1981		Arthur	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1982	''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid''	Rigby Reardon
1983	''The Man with Two Brains''	Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr
	''The Lonely Guy''	Larry Hubbard
	Roger Cobb	National Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActorNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1985	''Movers & Shakers''	Fabio Longio
	''Three Amigos''	Lucky Day	Also Writer and Executive Producer
	Orin Scrivello, DDS	Billed as "Special Appearance"
		C.D. Bales	Also Writer and Executive ProducerLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best ActorWriters Guild of America Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
''Planes, Trains and Automobiles''	Neal Page
1988		Freddy Benson
1989		Gil Buckman	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1990		Vinnie Antonelli
	''L.A. Story''	Harris K. Telemacher	Also Writer and Executive Producer
	George Banks
	Davis
	''HouseSitter''	Newton Davis
	Jonas Nightengale
1993		The Brother	Cameo
	''A Simple Twist of Fate''	Michael McCann	Also Writer and Executive Producer
''Mixed Nuts''	Philip
1995	''Father of the Bride Part II''	George Banks
1996		Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko
1997	''The Spanish Prisoner''	Jimmy Dell
1998	''The Prince of Egypt''	Hotep	Voice
		Henry Clark
''Bowfinger''	Bobby Bowfinger	Also writer
''The Venice Project''		Cameo
''Fantasia 2000''	Introductory Host	Disney Re-Release
2000		Charlie Duell
2001		Frank Sangster
	2002	''Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''		As himself
		Peter Sanderson
''Looney Tunes: Back in Action''	Mr. Chairman
	Tom Baker
	''Jiminy Glick in Lalawood''
	''Shopgirl''	Ray Porter	Also Writer and Producer
''Cheaper by the Dozen 2''	Tom Baker
''Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years''		As himself
2006		Inspector Clouseau	A remake of the earlier series
		Barry
		Writer and Producer
	''The Pink Panther 2''	Inspector Clouseau	Also Screenplay
	Adam Schaffer
2011	''The Big Year''	Stu

Discography

Albums

Album	Year	Peak chart positions		! scope="col" rowspan="2"
		! scope="col" style="width:5.5em;font-size:90%;"	! scope="col" style="width:5.5em;font-size:90%;"
''Let's Get Small''	1977	10	—		*US: Platinum
''A Wild and Crazy Guy''	1978	2	—		*US: 2× Platinum
''Comedy Is Not Pretty!''	1979	25	—		*US: Gold
''The Steve Martin Brothers''	1981	135	—
! scope="row"	1986	—	—
''The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo''	2009	93	1
''Rare Bird Alert''	2011	43	1

Singles

Single	Year	Peak chart positions
		! scope="col" style="width:5em;font-size:90%;"
"Grandmother's Song"	1977	72
! scope="row"	1978	17
"Cruel Shoes"	1979	91

Music videos

Video	Year	Director
"Jubilation Day"	2011	Ryan Reichenfeld

TV specials

! Title	! Year	! Network
''Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy''	1978
''All Commercials... A Steve Martin Special''	1980
''Steve Martin: Comedy is Not Pretty''	1980
''Steve Martin's Best Show Ever''	1981
''The Winds of Whoopie''	1983

References

Further reading

Martin, Steve. (2007) ''Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life''. Scribner. ISBN 1416553649.

Walker, Morris (1999) ''Steve Martin: The Magic Years''. SPI Books. ISBN 1561719803.

External links

Steve Martin on Twitter

in 2008. Article and radio file in 2003. Radio file. Video of interview

Men's Vogue Article

Disney Legends profile

Category:1945 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Texas Category:American banjoists Category:American buskers Category:American comedy musicians Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American film actors Category:American memoirists Category:American screenwriters Category:American stand-up comedians Category:California State University, Long Beach alumni Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:Mark Twain Prize recipients Category:People from Garden Grove, California Category:People from Inglewood, California Category:People from Waco, Texas Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

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Coordinates	5°33′27.30″N80°49′20.28″N
name	Tony Trischka |
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist|
birth name	Tony Trischka |
alias	|
born	January 16, 1949 |
origin	Syracuse, New York, USA |
instruments	Banjo, steel guitar |
genre	Bluegrass, Country |
occupation	Bluegrass musician |
years active	1970s–present |
label	Rounder Records |
associated acts	|
website	|
current members	|
past members	|
notable instruments	Banjo, steel guitar | }}

Tony Trischka (born January 16, 1949 in Syracuse, New York) is an American five-string banjo player.

Biography

Tony Trischka was born in Syracuse, New York, and graduated from Syracuse University (in Syracuse, New York) with a B.A in Fine Arts, and was inspired to play the banjo in 1963, listening to the Kingston Trio's "Charlie and The MTA". thumb|Performing in 2008 Trischka was a founding member of the Syracuse band Down City Ramblers during and beyond his college years, along with such musicians as Harry "Tersh" Gilmore (aka Lou Martin), Tom Hosmer, John Cadley, John Dancks, Greg Root, Greg Johnson, and Joel Diamond. Along with Gilmore and Hosmer he was also in the trio calling itself The Inedible String Bland. Both bands primarily, and frequently, played at Syracuse's premier music club/restaurant of the sixties, Cap'n Mac's Clam Shack.

In 1971 he made his recording debut on ''15 Bluegrass Instrumentals'' with the Ithaca, NY based Country Cooking, (Peter Wernick, Kenny Kosek, Andy Statman, John Miller, Harry "Tersh" Gilmore) and at the same time, he was also a member of Syracuse's Country Granola (Herb Feuerstein, Johno Lanford, Greg Root, Danny Weiss, etc.). In 1973, he began a two-year stint with the New York City band, Breakfast Special (Kenny Kosek, Andy Statman, Roger Mason, Stacy Phillips, Jim Tolles). (This was Trischka's "food band" period.) Between 1974 and 1975, he recorded two solo albums, ''Bluegrass Light'' and ''Heartlands''. After another solo album in 1976, ''Banjoland'', he became musical leader for the Broadway show, ''The Robber Bridegroom''. Trischka toured with the show in 1978, the year he also played with the Monroe Doctrine. Beginning in 1978, he also played with artists such as Peter Rowan, Richard Greene, and Stacy Phillips.

In the early 1980s, he began recording with his new group Skyline, which recorded its first album in 1983. Subsequent albums included ''Robot Plane Flies over Arkansas'' (solo, 1983), ''Stranded in the Moonlight'' (with Skyline, 1984) and ''Hill Country'' (solo, 1985). In 1984, he performed in his first feature film, ''Foxfire''. Three years later, he worked on the soundtrack for ''Driving Miss Daisy''. Trischka produced the Belgian group Gold Rush's ''No More Angels'' in 1988. The following year, Skyline recorded its final album, ''Fire of Grace''. He also recorded the theme song for ''Books on the Air'', a popular National Public Radio Show, and continued his affiliation with the network by appearing on Garrison Keillor's ''A Prairie Home Companion'', ''Mountain Stage'', ''From Our Front Porch'', and other radio shows.

Trischka's solo recordings include 1993's ''World Turning'', 1995's ''Glory Shone Around: A Christmas Collection'' and 1999's ''Bend''. ''New Deal'', a studio album that followed in 2003, was a bluesy adaptation of bluegrass standards that included a vocal cameo by Loudon Wainwright. ''Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular'', with an appearance by comedian Steve Martin, came out four years later.

Trischka was banjo teacher to Béla Fleck, regarded, along with Trischka, as one of the world's top banjoists.

In the late 1990s, Trischka teamed up with David Grier, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, and Todd Phillips as "Psychograss" and formed a new band, whose debut album ''Bend'' explored yet more territory uncharted by banjo.

In January 2007 Trischka released, to critical and popular acclaim, ''Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular'', featuring new music and performances by a stellar line-up of musicians including Earl Scruggs, Béla Fleck and the multi-talented Steve Martin. On April 26, 2007, he performed live on ''The Late Show With David Letterman'' with Steve Martin and Béla Fleck.

On October 4, 2007 Trischka won three International Bluegrass Music Awards, for Album of the Year, Recorded Event of the Year, and Banjo Player of the Year.

In 2008, Trischka released an album on Smithsonian Folkways entitled ''Territory'', which in 2009 won the 8th annual Independent Music Awards for Best Americana Album.

In 2009, Tony Trischka launched the 'Tony Trischka School of Banjo', an online banjo school.

In 2010 produced Steve Martin’s Rare Bird Alert (March 2011-Rounder) which features performances by Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks.

In 2011 Tony acted as the the musical director of the forthcoming documentary "Give Me the Banjo", to be aired on PBS in the fall of 2011.

Trischka resides in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Television appearances

David Letterman show, with Steve Martin, Bela Fleck, Brittany Haas, and Michael Daves, April 2007

Ellen Degeneres show, with Steve Martin, Brittany Haas, and Michael Daves, April 2007

Live at the Quick, with Bela Fleck, 2004–2006

ABC “Views”, with Béla Fleck, Summer 1997

“ABC World News Tonight” with Peter Jennings, Summer, 1996

“CBS Sunday Morning” with Charles Osgood - feature story (including Béla Fleck), 1995

“Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” (PBS), 1992

British television production of “Echoes of America: History of the Five String Banjo” , 1989

CBS “Hallmark Hall of Fame” production of “Foxfire” with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn and John Denver, 1987

Ralph Emory’s “Frets” Awards Show, The Nashville Network, 1987

Nashville Network’s “Fire on the Mountain,” 1984, 1986

Merv Griffin Show, 1976

References

External links

Official Site

Tony Trischka School of Banjo

Academy of Bluegrass

Category:American banjoists Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:Independent Music Awards winners

cs:Tony Trischka

Coordinates	5°33′27.30″N80°49′20.28″N
name	David Letterman
pseudonym	Earl Hofert
birth date	April 12, 1947
birth place	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
medium	Stand-up, talk show
nationality	American
genre	Observational comedy, surreal humor, deadpan
subject	Self-deprecation, everyday life
influences	Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, Jack Paar, Paul Dixon
influenced
website	CBS.com/latenight/lateshow
active	1974–present
domesticpartner	Regina Lasko (1986-2009)
spouse	Michelle Cook (1969–1977)Regina Lasko (2009–present)
Religion	Lutheran
notable work	Host of ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (NBC)Host of ''Late Show with David Letterman'' (CBS)
signature	David Letterman Autograph.svg

}} David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, ''Late Show with David Letterman'', broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman'' on NBC. Letterman recently surpassed friend and mentor Johnny Carson for having the longest late-night hosting career in the United States.

Letterman is also a television and film producer. His company Worldwide Pants produces his show as well as its network follow-up ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson''. Worldwide Pants has also produced several prime-time comedies, the most successful of which was ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', currently in syndication.

In 1996, David Letterman was ranked #45 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Early life and career

Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 1915 – February 1973), was a florist of British descent; his mother Dorothy Letterman (''née'' Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays.

Letterman lived on the north side of Indianapolis (Broad Ripple area), not far from Speedway, IN, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000, he told an interviewer for ''Esquire'' that, while growing up, he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. Harry Joseph Letterman survived a heart attack at age 36, when David was a young boy. The fear of losing his father was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. The elder Letterman died of a second heart attack at age 57.

Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School at the same time as Marilyn Tucker Quayle (wife of the former Vice President) and worked as a stock boy at the local Atlas supermarket. According to the ''Ball State Daily News'', he originally had wanted to attend Indiana University, but his grades weren't good enough, so he decided to attend Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. He is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he graduated from what was then the Department of Radio and Television, in 1969. A self-described average student, Letterman endowed a scholarship for what he called "C students" at Ball State.

Though he registered for the draft and passed his physical after graduating from college, he was not drafted for service in Vietnam due to receiving a draft lottery number of 352 (out of 365).

Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station—WBST—a 10-watt campus station which now is part of Indiana Public Radio. He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence.

Letterman then became involved with the founding of another campus station—WAGO-AM 570 (now WWHI, 91.3).

Letterman credits Paul Dixon—host of the ''Paul Dixon Show'', a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while Letterman was growing up—for inspiring his choice of career: :"I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all of a sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do!"

Weatherman

Letterman began his career as a radio talk show host on WNTS (AM), and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (now called WTHR) as a local anchor and weatherman. He received some attention for his unpredictable on-air behavior, which included congratulating a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane and predicting hail stones "the size of canned hams." He would also occasionally report the weather and the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities ("Eight inches of snow in Bingree and surrounding areas.") while on another occasion saying that a state border had been erased. ("From space you can see the border between Indiana and Ohio has been erased. I'm not in favor of this.") He also starred in a local kiddie show, made wisecracks as host of a late night TV show called "Freeze-Dried Movies" (he once acted out a scene from "Godzilla" using plastic dinosaurs), and hosted a talk show that aired early on Saturday mornings called "Clover Power," in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects.

In 1971, Letterman appeared as a pit road reporter for ABC Sports' tape-delayed coverage of the Indianapolis 500. David is initially introduced as Chris Economaki in his job as a corner reporter. He interviews Mario Andretti who has just crashed out of the race and asks him a question about traffic on the course.

Move to Los Angeles

In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles, California, with hope of becoming a comedy writer. He started off by writing material for comedian Jimmie Walker. He also began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, a proving ground for unknown comics.

Letterman appeared in the summer of 1977 on the short-lived ''Starland Vocal Band Show''. He has since joked about how fortunate he was that nobody would ever see his performance on the program (due to its low ratings).

Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, ''Mary''; a guest appearance on ''Mork & Mindy'' (as a parody of EST leader Werner Erhard); and appearances on game shows such as ''The $20,000 Pyramid'', ''The Gong Show'', ''Password Plus'' and ''Liar's Club''. He also hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled ''The Riddlers'' that was never picked up. He was also screen tested for the lead role in ''Airplane!'', a role that eventually went to Robert Hays.

His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson's and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.

NBC

Morning show

On June 23, 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC, ''The David Letterman Show''. It was originally 90 minutes long, but was shortened to 60 minutes in August 1980. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled in October 1980.

''Late Night with David Letterman''

NBC kept Letterman under contract to try him in a different time slot. ''Late Night with David Letterman'' debuted February 1, 1982; the first guest on the first show was Bill Murray. Murray also guested on January 31, 2012 - 30 years later. The show ran Monday through Thursday at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, immediately following ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (a Friday night broadcast was added in June 1987. It was seen as being edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an acerbic interviewer was borne out in verbal sparring matches with Cher (who even called him an asshole on the show), Shirley MacLaine, Charles Grodin, and Madonna. The show also featured comedy segments and running characters, in a style heavily influenced by the 1950s and '60s programs of Steve Allen. Although Ernie Kovacs is often cited as an influence on the show, Letterman has denied this.

The show often featured quirky, genre-mocking regular features, including "Stupid Pet Tricks", dropping various objects off the roof of a five-story building, demonstrations of unorthodox clothing (such as suits made of Alka-Seltzer, Velcro and suet), a recurring Top 10 list, the Monkey-Cam (and the Audience Cam), and a facetious letter-answering segment. The Top 10 list, several "Film[s] by My Dog Bob" in which a camera was mounted on Letterman's own dog (often with comic results), Stupid Human Tricks, Small Town News, and Stupid Pet Tricks (which had its origins on Letterman's morning show) all eventually moved with Letterman to CBS.

Other memorable moments included Letterman using a bullhorn to interrupt a live interview on ''The Today Show'', announcing that he was the NBC president while not wearing any pants; interrupting Al Roker on WNBC-TV's broadcast of ''Live at Five'' by walking into their studio (which occupied the same floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza as Letterman's studio); and staging "elevator races", complete with commentary by NBC Sports' Bob Costas. In one infamous appearance, in 1982, Andy Kaufman (who was already wearing a neck brace) appeared to be slapped and knocked to the ground by professional wrestler Jerry Lawler (though Lawler and Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda later revealed that the event was staged.) In another memorable exchange, sex expert Dr. Ruth Westheimer included cucumbers in a list of handy sex objects that women could find at home. The following night, guest Ted Koppel asked Letterman "May I insert something here?" and Dave responded "OK, as long as it's not a cucumber."

''Late Show with David Letterman''

In 1992, Johnny Carson retired, and many fans believed that Letterman would become host of ''The Tonight Show''. When NBC instead gave the job to Jay Leno, Letterman departed NBC to host his own late-night show on CBS, opposite ''The Tonight Show'' at 11:30 p.m., called the ''Late Show with David Letterman''. The new show debuted on August 30, 1993 and was taped at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, where Ed Sullivan taped his eponymous variety series from 1948 to 1971. For Letterman's arrival, CBS spent $8 million in renovations. In addition to that cost, CBS also signed Letterman to a lucrative three-year, $14 million/year contract, doubling his ''Late Night'' salary. The total cost for everything (renovations, negotiation right paid to NBC, signing Letterman, announcer Bill Wendell, Shaffer, the writers and the band) was over $140 million.

But while the expectation was that Letterman would retain his unique style and sense of humor with the move, ''Late Show'' was not an exact replica of his old NBC program. Recognizing the more formal mood (and wider audience) of his new time slot and studio, Letterman eschewed his trademark blazer with khaki pants and white sneakers wardrobe combination in favor of expensive shoes, tailored suits and light-colored socks. The monologue was lengthened and Paul Shaffer and the "World's Most Dangerous Band" followed Letterman to CBS, but they added a brass section and were rebranded the "CBS Orchestra" as a short monologue and a small band were mandated by Carson while Letterman occupied the 12:30 slot. Additionally, because of intellectual property disagreements, Letterman was unable to import many of his ''Late Night'' segments verbatim, but he sidestepped this problem by simply renaming them (the "Top Ten List" became the "Late Show Top Ten", "Viewer Mail" became the "CBS Mailbag", etc.)

Popularity

The main competitor of ''The Late Show'' is NBC's ''The Tonight Show'', which was hosted by Jay Leno for nearly 16 years, but from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, was hosted by Conan O'Brien. In 1993 and 1994, ''The Late Show'' consistently gained higher ratings than ''Tonight''. But in 1995, ratings dipped and Leno's show consistently beat Letterman's in the ratings from the time that Hugh Grant came on Leno's show after Grant's arrest for soliciting a prostitute. ; Leno typically attracted about 5 million nightly viewers between 1999 and 2009. ''The Late Show'' lost nearly half its audience during its competition with Leno, attracting 7.1 million viewers nightly in its 1993–94 season and about 3.8 million per night as of Leno's departure in 2009. In the final months of his first stint as host of ''The Tonight Show'', Leno beat Letterman in the ratings by a 1.3 million viewer margin (5.2 million to 3.9 million), and ''Nightline'' and ''The Late Show'' were virtually tied. Once O'Brien took over ''Tonight'', however, Letterman closed the gap in the ratings. O'Brien initially drove the median age of ''Tonight Show'' viewers from 55 to 45, with most older viewers opting to watch ''The Late Show'' instead.

Following Leno's return to ''The Tonight Show'', however, Leno has regained his lead.

Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning 12 times in his first 20 years in late night television. From 1993–2009, Letterman ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of ''Nation's Favorite TV Personality'' 12 times. For example, in 2003 and 2004 Letterman ranked second in that poll, behind only Oprah Winfrey, a year that Leno was ranked fifth. Leno was higher than Letterman on that poll three times during the same period, in 1998, 2007, and 2008.

Hosting the Academy Awards

On March 27, 1995, Letterman acted as the host for the 67th Academy Awards ceremony. Critics blasted Letterman for what they deemed a poor hosting of the Oscars, noting that his irreverent style undermined the traditional importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names (inspired by a similar joke by Woody Allen), he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then both of them to Keanu Reeves: "Oprah...Uma. Uma...Oprah," "Have you kids met Keanu?" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity garnered by Letterman's hosting caused a decline in the ''Late Show'''s ratings.

Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." He lampooned his stint two years later, during Billy Crystal's opening Oscar skit, which also parodied the plane-crashing scenes from that year's chief nominated film, ''The English Patient''.

For years afterward, Letterman recounted his hosting the Oscars, although the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continued to hold Letterman in high regard and they had invited him to host the Oscars again. On September 7, 2010, he made an appearance on the premiere of the 14th season of ''The View'', and confirmed that he had been considered for hosting again.

Heart surgery hiatus

On January 14, 2000, a routine check-up revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart was severely obstructed. He was rushed to emergency surgery for a quintuple bypass.

During the initial weeks of his recovery, reruns of the ''Late Show'' were shown and introduced by friends of Letterman including Drew Barrymore, including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis Aronne, who frequently appears on the show. In a show of emotion, Letterman was nearly in tears as he thanked the health care team with the words "These are the people who saved my life!" The episode earned an Emmy nomination. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying, "Bypass surgery: it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get ''The Tonight Show!'' It's a whole different thing." In a later running gag he lobbied his home state of Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis (I-465) "The David Letterman Bypass." He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, which included a clip of Dave's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network. Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, a ''Rolling Stone'' interview stated "he hosted a doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. 'These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest,' he says. 'And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends.' "

Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play "Everlong", introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During a later Foo Fighters appearance, Letterman said that Foo Fighters had been in the middle of a South American tour which they canceled to come play on his comeback episode.

Letterman again handed over the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby, Brad Garrett, Elvis Costello, John McEnroe, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Bonnie Hunt, Luke Wilson and bandleader Paul Shaffer) in February 2003, when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles. Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts—including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer—for new shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler—who had been scheduled to be the lead guest—served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus.

Re-signing with CBS

In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC offered him the time slot for long-running news program ''Nightline'' with Ted Koppel. Letterman was interested as he believed he could never match Leno's ratings at CBS due to Letterman's complaint of weaker lead-ins from the network's late local news programs, but was reluctant to replace Koppel. Letterman addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel.

On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that Letterman signed a new contract to host ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' through the fall of 2010. "I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn a new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo.

"Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and the creativity and imagination that the ''Late Show'' puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.'"

According to a 2007 article in ''Forbes'' magazine, Letterman earned $40 million a year. A 2009 article in ''The New York Times'', however, said his salary was estimated at $32 million per year. In June 2009, Letterman's Worldwide Pants and CBS reached agreement to continue the ''Late Show'' until at least August 2012. The previous contract had been set to expire in 2010, and the two-year extension is shorter than the typical three-year contract period negotiated in the past. Worldwide Pants agreed to lower its fee for the show, though it had remained a "solid moneymaker for CBS" under the previous contract.

On the February 3, 2011, edition of the ''Late Show'', during an interview with Howard Stern, Letterman said he would continue to do his talk show for "maybe two years, I think."

2007–2008 writers' strike

The Late Show went off air for eight weeks during the months of November and December because of the Writers Guild of America strike. Letterman's production company—Worldwide Pants—was the first company to make an individual agreement with the WGA, thus allowing his show to come back on air on January 2, 2008. On his first episode since being off air, he surprised the viewing audience with his newly grown beard, which signified solidarity with the strike. His beard was shaved off during the show on January 7, 2008.

Letterman and Carson

NBC's decision to select Jay Leno and not Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson as host of ''The Tonight Show'' was an embarrassment to Carson, who had all but promised the succession to Letterman. Letterman maintained a close relationship with Carson through his break with NBC. Three years after he left for CBS, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called ''The Late Shift'', based on a book by ''New York Times'' reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Leno for the coveted ''Tonight Show'' hosting spot. Letterman would mock the film for months afterward, specifically on how the actor playing him, John Michael Higgins, did not resemble him in the least. ("They took a guy who looked nothing like me and with make-up and special camera angles, turned him into a guy who looked nothing like me, with red hair.")

Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Letterman's show. Carson's final television appearance came May 13, 1994, on a ''Late Show'' episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a 'Top 10 list' segment. The audience went wild as Letterman stood up and proudly invited Carson to sit at his desk. The applause was so protracted that Carson was unable to say anything, and he finally returned backstage as the applause continued (it was later explained that Carson had laryngitis, though Carson can be heard talking to Letterman during his appearance).

In early 2005, it was revealed that Carson still kept up with current events and late-night TV right up to his death that year, and that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used these jokes in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Johnny Carson golf swing after delivering one of Carson's jokes. In a tribute to Carson, all of the opening monologue jokes during the first show following Carson's death were written by Carson.

Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." Letterman also frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac the Magnificent" (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band" and the "Week in Review."

Letterman and Oprah Winfrey

On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He shared pictures of his son and live-in girlfriend. The so-called feud between Letterman and Winfrey apparently ended in 2005 when Winfrey appeared on CBS's ''Late Show with David Letterman'' on December 2, in an event Letterman jokingly referred to as "the Super Bowl of Love". Winfrey had previously appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's ''Late Night'' on May 2, 1989.

Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in a Late Show promo that aired during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on the couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis-born Letterman wears a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey—who tapes her show in Chicago—is in a Brian Urlacher jersey. Three years later, during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, the two appeared again, this time with Winfrey sitting on a couch between Letterman and Jay Leno. The appearance was Letterman's idea: Leno flew to New York City in an NBC corporate jet, sneaking into the Ed Sullivan Theater during the ''Late Show'''s February 4 taping wearing a disguise, meeting Winfrey and Letterman at a living room set created in the theater's balcony where they taped their promo.

Response to Internet death threat

On August 17, 2011, it was reported that a Muslim militant had posted a death threat against Letterman on a website frequented by Al-Qaeda supporters, calling on American Muslims to kill Letterman for making a joke about the death of an Al-Qaeda leader killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in June 2011. In his show on August 22, Letterman joked about the threat, saying "State Department authorities are looking into this. They're not taking this lightly. They’re looking into it. They're questioning, they're interrogating, there's an electronic trail — but everybody knows it's Leno."

Appearances in other media

Letterman appeared in issue 239 of the Marvel comic book ''The Avengers'', in which the title characters are guests on ''Late Night''. A parody of Letterman, named "David Endochrine," is gassed to death along with his bandleader named "Paul" and their audience in Frank Miller's ''The Dark Knight Returns''.

Letterman appeared in the pilot episode of the short-lived 1986 series "Coach Toast", and he appears with a bag over his head as a guest on Bonnie Hunt's ca. 1993 sitcom ''The Building''. He also appears in The Simpsons, as himself in a couch gag when The Simpsons find themselves (and the couch) in "Late Night with David Letterman." He had a cameo in the feature film ''Cabin Boy'', with Chris Elliott, who worked as a writer on Letterman's show. In this and other appearances, Letterman is listed in the credits as "Earl Hofert", the name of Letterman's maternal grandfather. He also appeared as himself in the Howard Stern biopic Private Parts as well as the 1999 Andy Kaufman biopic ''Man on the Moon'', in a few episodes of Garry Shandling's 1990s TV series ''The Larry Sanders Show'' and in "The Abstinence", a 1996 episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. Letterman also made an uncredited appearance in the first episode of the third season of the sitcom The Nanny.

Letterman provided vocals for the Warren Zevon song "Hit Somebody" from ''My Ride's Here'', and provided the voice for Butt-head's father in the 1996 animated film ''Beavis and Butt-head Do America''.

In 2010, a documentary ''Dying to Do Letterman'' was released directed by Joke Fincioen and Biagio Messina featuring Steve Mazan, a stand up comic, who has cancer and wants to appear on the Letterman Show. The film won Best Documentary and Jury Awards at the Cinequest Film Festival. Steve Mazan published a same-titled book (full title, ''Dying to Do Letterman: Turning Someday into Today'' about his own saga.

Other projects

Worldwide Pants

Letterman started his own production company—Worldwide Pants Incorporated—which produced his show and several others, including ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''The Late Late Show'', and several critically acclaimed, but short-lived television series for Bonnie Hunt. Worldwide Pants also produced the dramedy program ''Ed'', which aired on NBC from 2000–2004. It was Letterman's first association with NBC since he left the network in 1993. During ''Ed's'' run, the star, Tom Cavanagh, appeared as a guest on ''The Late Show'' several times.

In 2005, Worldwide Pants produced its first feature film, ''Strangers with Candy'', which was a prequel to the Comedy Central TV series of the same title. In 2007, Worldwide Pants produced the ABC comedy series, ''Knights of Prosperity''.

Worldwide Pants made significant news in December 2007 when it was announced that Letterman's company had independently negotiated its own contract with the Writers Guild of America, East, thus allowing Letterman, Craig Ferguson, and their writers to return to work, while the union continued its strike against production companies, networks and studios who had not reached an agreement.

Record company

In late April 2010, several music industry websites reported that Letterman started a record label named Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music and signed his first artist, Runner Runner. Lucy Walsh announced on her MySpace page that she has been signed by Letterman and Clear Entertainment/C.E. Music and is working on her album.

Rahal Letterman Racing

Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is an auto racing team that currently races in the American Le Mans Series, and part-time in the Indy Racing League. It is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and Letterman himself, and is based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice. Letterman was a pit reporter for ABC in the 1971 Indianapolis 500.

American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming

American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming is Letterman's private foundation. Through it, Letterman has donated millions of dollars to charities and other non-profits in Indiana and Montana, celebrity-affiliated organizations such as Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, universities such as Ball State, and other organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Salvation Army, and Doctors Without Borders.

Personal life

Marriages and long-term relationships

In 1969, Letterman married Michelle Cook; the marriage ended by divorce in 1977. He also had a long-term relationship with former head writer and producer on ''Late Night'', Merrill Markoe. Markoe was the mind behind several ''Late Night'' staples, such as "Stupid Pet/Human Tricks".

Letterman has a son, Harry Joseph Letterman (born on November 3, 2003), with Regina Lasko. Harry is named after Letterman's father. In 2005, police discovered a plot to kidnap Harry Letterman and ransom him for $5 million. Kelly Frank, a house painter who had worked for Letterman, was charged in the conspiracy.

Letterman and Lasko, who had been together since 1986, wed on March 19, 2009, during a quiet courthouse civil ceremony in Choteau, Montana, where he purchased a ranch in 1999. Letterman announced the marriage during the taping of his March 23 show, shortly after congratulating Bruce Willis for getting married the previous week. Letterman told the audience he nearly missed the ceremony because his truck became stuck in mud two miles from their house. The family resides in North Salem, New York, on a estate.

Stalking incidents

Beginning in May 1988, Letterman was stalked by Margaret Mary Ray, a woman suffering from schizophrenia. She once stole his Porsche, repeatedly broke into his house, and camped out on his tennis court. Her exploits drew national attention, and Letterman occasionally joked about her behavior in his show, although never mentioning her name. After she committed suicide in 1998, Letterman told the ''New York Times'' that he had had great compassion for her, and publicly expressed sympathy.

Extortion attempt and revelation of affairs

On his October 1, 2009, show, Letterman announced that he had been the victim of an extortion attempt by someone threatening to reveal that he had had sex with several of his female employees, confirming the relationships. He stated that three weeks earlier (on September 9, 2009) someone had left a package in his car with material he said he would write into a screenplay and a book if Letterman did not pay him $2 million. Letterman said that he contacted the Manhattan District Attorney's office, ultimately cooperating with them to conduct a sting operation involving giving the man a phony check. Subsequently, Robert J. "Joe" Halderman, a producer of the CBS true crime journalism series ''48 Hours'', was arrested after trying to deposit the check. He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted grand larceny on October 2, 2009. Eventually, on March 9, 2010, he pleaded guilty to this same felony and served a 6-month jail sentence, followed by probation and community service.

A central figure in the case and one of the women Letterman had had a sexual relationship with was his longtime personal assistant Stephanie Birkitt who often appeared with him in his show. She had also worked for ''48 Hours''. Until a month prior to the revelations she had shared a residence with Halderman, who allegedly had copied her personal diary and used it, along with private emails, in the blackmail package.

On October 3, 2009, a former CBS employee, Holly Hester, announced that she and Letterman had engaged in a year-long "secret" affair in the early 1990s while she was his intern and a student at New York University.

In the days following the initial announcement of the affairs and the arrest, several prominent women, including Kathie Lee Gifford, co-host of NBC's ''Today Show'', and NBC news anchor Ann Curry questioned whether Letterman's affairs with subordinates created an unfair working environment. A spokesman for Worldwide Pants said that the company's sexual harassment policy did not prohibit sexual relationships between managers and employees. According to business news reporter Eve Tahmincioglu, "CBS suppliers are supposed to follow the company's business conduct policies" and the CBS 2008 Business Conduct Statement states that "If a consenting romantic or sexual relationship between a supervisor and a direct or indirect subordinate should develop, CBS requires the supervisor to disclose this information to his or her Company's Human Resources Department..."

On October 5, 2009, Letterman devoted a segment of his show to a public apology to his wife and staff. Three days later, Worldwide Pants announced that Birkitt had been placed on a "paid leave of absence" from the ''Late Show''. On October 15, CBS News announced that the company's Chief Investigative Correspondent, Armen Keteyian, had been assigned to conduct an "in-depth investigation" into Halderman's blackmail of Letterman.

Awards and honors

Awards

In his capacities as either a writer, producer, performer, or as part of a writing team, Letterman is among the most nominated people in Emmy Award history with 52 nominations, winning two Daytime Emmys and five Primetime Emmys since 1981. His nomination record is second only to producer Jac Venza, who holds the record for the most Emmy nominations for an individual (57). Letterman has been nominated every year since 1984, when he first appeared on late night television as the host of ''Late Night with David Letterman.'' Additionally, he has won four American Comedy Awards. Letterman was the first recipient of the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence at The Comedy Awards in 2011.

David Letterman Communication and Media Building

On September 7, 2007, Letterman visited his alma mater, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, for the dedication of a communications facility named in his honor for his dedication to the university throughout his career as a comedian. The $21 million, David Letterman Communication and Media Building opened for the 2007 fall semester. It features state-of-the-art recording equipment and facilities. Thousands of Ball State students, faculty, and local residents welcomed Letterman back to Indiana. Letterman's emotional speech touched on his struggles as a college student and his late father, and also included the "top ten good things about having your name on a building", finishing with, "if reasonable people can put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible."

At the same time, Letterman also received a Sagamore of the Wabash award given by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, which recognizes distinguished service to the state of Indiana.

References

External links

David Letterman's Feb. 24, 1978 appearance on ''90 Minutes Live''

Official ''Late Show'' biography

1999 article on Letterman from Salon.com

Tape of Letterman announcing affairs/extortion attempt on Late Show

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Ball State University alumni Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Indianapolis, Indiana television anchors Category:Indy Racing League owners Category:People from Indianapolis, Indiana Category:Weather presenters

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Coordinates	5°33′27.30″N80°49′20.28″N
name	Earl Scruggs |
background	solo_singer |
birth name	Earl Eugene Scruggs |
alias	|
born	January 06, 1924|
death date	|
origin	Scottville, North Carolina, U.S.|
instrument	5-string banjo, guitar|
genre	Bluegrass, country, gospel
occupation	Bluegrass artist
years active	1945–present |
label	MCA Nashville Records
associated acts	Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys, Flatt and Scruggs, Earl Scruggs Revue
website	www.earlscruggs.com |
notable instruments	A 1933/34 Gibson Granada previously owned by Don Reno and Snuffy Jenkins, and "Nellie," a 1935/36 Gibson RB-3/RB-75 flathead }}

Earl Eugene Scruggs (born January 6, 1924) is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style (now called Scruggs style) that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Although other musicians had played in 3-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in the "Blue Grass Boys".

Biography

Scruggs was born in Scottville, North Carolina (formerly Flint Hill), to Georgia Lula Ruppe and George Elam Scruggs. He grew up in Cleveland County, North Carolina.

Career

Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in late 1945, and quickly popularized his syncopated, three-finger picking style. In 1948 Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt left Monroe's band and formed the Foggy Mountain Boys, also later known simply as Flatt and Scruggs. In 1969, they broke up, and he started a new band, the Earl Scruggs Revue, featuring several of his sons.

On September 24, 1962 singer Jerry Scoggins, and Flatt and Scruggs recorded "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" for the TV show ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' which was released October 12, 1962. The theme song became an immediate country music hit and was played at the beginning and end of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs appeared in several episodes as family friends of the Clampetts in the following years. In their first appearance, season 1 episode 20, they portray themselves in the show and perform both the theme song and "Pearl Pearl Pearl".

On October 15, 1969, Scuggs played his grammy-winning "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on an open-air stage in Washington, D. C., at the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, becoming one of the very few bluegrass or country-western artists to give support to the anti-war movement. In an interview after his performance, Scruggs said:

I think the people in the South is just as concerned as the people that's walkin' the streets here today . . . . I'm sincere about bringing our boys back home. I'm disgusted and in sorrow about the boys we've lost over there. And if I could see a good reason to continue, I wouldn't be here today.

Awards and honors

Flatt and Scruggs won a Grammy Award in 1969 for Scruggs' instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." They were inducted together into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1989, Scruggs was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship. He was an inaugural inductee into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1991. In 1992, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 1994, Scruggs teamed up with Randy Scruggs and Doc Watson to contribute the song "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2002 Scruggs won a second Grammy award for the 2001 recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", which featured artists such as Steve Martin on 2nd banjo solo (Martin played the banjo tune on his 1970s stand-up comic acts), Vince Gill and Albert Lee on electric guitar solos, Paul Shaffer on piano, Leon Russell on organ, and Marty Stuart on mandolin. The album, ''Earl Scruggs and Friends'', also featured artists such as John Fogerty, Elton John, Sting, Johnny Cash, Don Henley, Travis Tritt, and Billy Bob Thornton.

On February 13, 2003, Scruggs received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That same year, he and Flatt were ranked #24 on ''CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music''.

Personal life

Scruggs' wife and manager, Louise, died on February 2, 2006, aged 78, at Nashville's Baptist Hospital following a lengthy illness.

On September 13, 2006, Scruggs was honored at Turner Field in Atlanta as part of the pre-game show for an Atlanta Braves home game. Organizers (Banjo.com) set a world record for the most banjo players (239) playing one tune together (Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"). On February 10, 2008, Scruggs was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.

Legacy

Bela Fleck named Earl Scruggs among his influences and has stated that Scruggs is "certainly the best" banjo player of the three-finger style.

Discography

Albums

Year	Single	Chart Positions
		! width="60"	! width="60"	! width="60"	! width="60"
1967	''Strictly Instrumental'' (with Lester Flatt and Doc Watson)
1967	''5 String Banjo Instruction Album''
1968	''The Story of Bonnie and Clyde'' (with Lester Flatt and the Foggy Mountain Boys)
1969	''Changin' Times''
1970	''Nashville Airplane''
	''I Saw the Light with Some Help from My Friends''
''Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends''
''Live at Kansas State''
	''Rockin' 'Cross the Country''
''Dueling Banjos''
''The Earl Scruggs Revue''
1975	''Anniversary Special''
	''The Earl Scruggs Revue 2''
''Family Portrait''
	''Live from Austin City Limits''
''Strike Anywhere''
1978	''Bold & New''
1979	''Today & Forever''
	''Storyteller and the Banjo Man'' (with Tom T. Hall)
''Flatt & Scruggs''
1983	''Top of the World''
1984	''Superjammin'''
1998	''Artist's Choice: The Best Tracks (1970-1980)''
2001	''Earl Scruggs and Friends''
2002	''Classic Bluegrass Live: 1959-1966''
2003	''Three Pickers'' (with Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs)
2004	''The Essential Earl Scruggs''
2005	''Live with Donnie Allen and Friends''
2007	''Lifetimes: Lewis, Scruggs, and Long''

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions		Album
		! width="50"	CAN Country
1970	"Nashville Skyline Rag"			''Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends''
	"I Sure Could Use the Feeling"			Single only
"Play Me No Sad Songs"
1980	"Blue Moon of Kentucky"
	"There Ain't No Country Music on This Jukebox"(with Tom T. Hall)

Guest singles

Year	Single	Artist	Chart Positions	Album
			US Country
1998	"Same Old Train"	Various Artists

Music videos

! Year	! Video	! Director
1992	"The Dirt Road" (with Sawyer Brown)	Michael Salomon
2001	"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (Earl Scruggs and Friends)	Gerry Wenner

DVDs

Earl Scruggs - His Family and Friends (2005)

:(Recorded 1969. Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Bill Monroe, Joan Baez et al.)

Private Sessions (2005)

The Bluegrass Legend (2006)

Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson and Ricky Skaggs

The Three Pickers (2003)

Flatt and Scruggs

The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 1 (2007)

The Best of Flatt and Scruggs TV Show Vol 2 (2007)

Footnotes

References

Rosenberg, Neil V. (1998). "Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 173–4.

Willis, Barry R. "Biography of Earl Scruggs." Retrieved October 5, 2008.

Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts

External links

Official Website

Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com Interview with www.CountryMusicPride.com

at the Country Music Hall of Fame

on MCA Nashville

on Rounder Records

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Category:1924 births Category:Living people Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductees Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American country banjoists Category:People from Shelby, North Carolina

cs:Earl Scruggs de:Earl Scruggs fr:Earl Scruggs it:Earl Scruggs nl:Earl Scruggs pl:Earl Scruggs pt:Earl Scruggs fi:Earl Scruggs sv:Earl Scruggs