Steve Martin Recalls His Father Criticizing His Performance in ‘The Jerk’: “He’s No Charlie Chaplin”

It’s hard to imagine Steve Martin’s father being anything but fiercely proud of his wildly successful son. Martin is, arguably, one of the most well-known and revered comedians of all time. Yet, in his new two-part documentary, Steve! (martin), which began streaming on Apple TV+ today, the 78-year-old reveals that his relationship with his father was strained—even after Martin had found moderate success with his unorthodox stand-up act in the ’60s.

“I always thought my father was a little embarrassed by me,” Martin says via a voiceover in Part 1 of the documentary. “He couldn’t quite be proud of an unconventional showbiz act that he didn’t quite understand.” But, Martin added, “By that time, I had been so kind of alienated by my father that negative comments were actually my encouragement.”

Director Morgan Neville (the Oscar-winning documentarian known for 20 Feet from Stardom and Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) gently threads the narrative of Martin’s relationship with his father, Glenn Martin, throughout the two-part series. Martin’s sister, Melinda Dobbs, describes Glenn Martin as a cold, angry man who would often unleash his temper on the young Steve. “He would just blow his stack at him,” Dobbs recalls in a voiceover. “I don’t remember hugs. I don’t remember affection.”

Martin himself is more reserved when it comes to talking ill of his father, offering a more diplomatic take: “I remember thinking I had this happy childhood, and then later I realized, ‘Oh yeah, happy outside the house.’”

Later, when Martin took the ’70s by storm, becoming a comedic superstar on stage and in movies, his father still had criticisms. Martin’s longtime friend, John McElren, recalls attending what he remembers as a “perfect five-minute show” from Martin, and after the set, Martin’s father told him, “You know what was wrong with that show?”

After the premiere of Martin’s first film, The Jerk in 1979—still to this day to be considered one of the greatest comedy movies of all time—Martin went out to dinner with his father and friend. “My father said nothing about the movie, nothing,” Martin recalls. “Finally my friend says, ‘Glenn, what’d you think of Steve in the movie?’ and he said, ‘Well, he’s no Charlie Chaplin.'”

Ouch. Later, in part two of the series, Martin muses that much of his work and career was driven by seeking approval from his father—approval, it seems, he never got, even when he became the most famous comedian in the world.

And yet, Martin insists he does not hold a grudge, and understands the stress his father was under to support the family. When he’s asked by Neville, near the end of the doc, how he feels about his father today, Martin replies, “I like him. He had a really good sense of humor. I kinda wish I could talk to him again.”