who is Steve Martin?

-Born: 14 August 1945
-Birthplace: Waco, Texas
-Best Known As: Comic star of The Jerk and Saturday Night Live
Steve Martin got started as a zany and absurdist stand-up comedian in the 1970s
when his comedy albums like Let's Get Small (1977) were big hits; his punch line "Excuuuuse me" became a pop culture catch-phrase.
He was also a favorite recurring guest host on Saturday Night Live for many years.
In the 1980s he began starring in mainstream movie comedies like Parenthood (1989) and Father of the Bride (1991, co-starring Diane Keaton, with a sequel in 1995).
He proved himself an able writer/director, with successes like Roxanne (1987, with Daryl Hannah), LA Story, (1991, with Sarah Jessica Parker) and Bowfinger (1999, with Eddie Murphy).
Martin is known for his brainy versatility and continues to work in films, write plays (Picasso at the Lapin Agile), publish humorous essays in the New Yorker magazine, and write books like Shopgirl (2000, made into a 2005 movie starring Martin and Claire Danes).
His other films have included the family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen (2003, and a sequel in 2005) and the slapstick remake The Pink Panther (2006, with Martin in the Inspector Clouseau role made famous by Peter Sellers).
He published a memoir, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life, in 2007.
Martin has appeared in four films directed by Carl Reiner, including The Jerk (1979) and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Martin hosted the annual Academy Award ceremonies in 2001 and 2003.

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Steve Martin and new type

Comedian Steve Martin next month will make his debut on a new type of stage for the well-known television and movie star, plucking his banjo at country music's Grand Ole Opry.
Martin, a veteran of TV shows like "Saturday Night Live and films such as the recent "Pink Panther 2," has long been a banjo player.
He even incorporated the instrument into his stand-up comedy act as he rose to stardom in the 1970s.
But only last month Martin released his first music CD, a bluegrass album called "The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo," which he will perform at country music's premiere venue on May 30, in Nashville.
Martin began playing banjo at age 17, and recently joked with reporters in New York that early in his career he opened a Manhattan night club picking away at the instrument but nobody turned out.
On the second night he agreed to play for free, and when the club was empty again, the owner fired him.
"I thought if I don't do it now, my fingers might slow down or I might forget the songs," the 63-year-old Martin said about making "The Crow" with 15 original songs.

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Madonna in Malawi

Pop singer Madonna has travelled to Malawi in a bid to adopt a second child from the country.
Four-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James is in the same orphanage
that was once home to David Banda, adopted by the singer in 2006.
Madonna's decision take a second child has already been criticised by international charities
but now a human rights organisation in Malawi is threatening
to try and stop the adoption from taking place.

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George Clooney quietly returned to "ER"

George Clooney quietly returned to "ER" in a long-awaited appearance that gave the TV hospital drama its best viewership ratings in two years as the show nears its final emergency.
Clooney, 47,
donned his Dr. Doug Ross scrubs one more time along with his TV wife Julianna Marguiles (nurse Carol Hathaway) in an episode broadcast on Thursday that also featured old-timers Noah Wyle (Dr. John Carter) and Eriq La Salle (Dr. Peter Benton).
Although barely promoted by NBC,
the episode saw a 23 percent increase in audiences over last week's show, whose 15th and final season ends next month.
NBC, which is currently lagging in bottom place among the four major U.S. networks.
said the 10.7 million Americans who tuned in gave "ER" its best ratings since Feb 2007.
"ER" turned Clooney into an international heart-throb and he left in 1999 to pursue a movie career full time.
He returned for a brief, surprise cameo in May 2000 but had repeatedly said he was not interested in going back again.
Anthony Edwards, whose character Dr. Mark Greene, died of brain cancer in 2002, has already returned for the final season in flashback scenes along with Laura Innes (Dr. Weaver) and Paul McCrane (Dr. Romano).
The ground-breaking series, set in the emergency room of a fictional Chicago hospital, was the top-rated drama on U.S. in the mid-1990s but audiences have slipped sharply in recent years.

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Michael Jackson - King of Pop

U.S. pop star Michael Jackson's run of 50 comeback concerts in London starting on July 8 sold out about five hours after tickets went on sale, the promoters said Friday.
The 50-year-old announced last week that he would return to the stage 12 years after his last series of concerts.
although the original commitment was to 10 gigs at London's O2 Arena.
That has now expanded to 50, ending on February 24, 2010.
Hundreds of thousands of tickets went on sale to registered fans earlier in the week, and ahead of Friday's general release hundreds of people queued at the O2 Arena to ensure they made it to the eagerly-awaited shows.
Many had camped overnight for the privilege.
Jackson has been a virtual recluse since his acquittal on child abuse charges in a 2005 trial and he has not recorded an album of new music since "Invincible" in 2001.
But he is still the "King of Pop" to legions of followers despite his sometimes bizarre behavior and appearance.
He has sold around 750 million records, won 13 Grammys and is regarded as one of the biggest pop acts of all time.

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