Steve Martin honored with AFI's Lifetime Achievement award

(Reuters) - Actor and comedian Steve Martin is the honoree for the 2014 Lifetime Achievement award from the American Film Institute, the organization said on Friday.

Martin, 69, will receive the award recognizing his prolific career spanning four decades at a gala in June 2015, televised on Turner Broadcasting's TNT.

"Steve Martin is an American original," said Howard Stringer, chair of the AFI's board of trustees.

"He is a multi-layered creative force bound by neither convention nor caution. His work is defined by him alone, for he is the author – and a national treasure whose work has stuck with us like an arrow in the head."

Martin, born in Waco, Texas and raised in Southern California, rose through the ranks of comedy from performing magic at Disneyland to becoming a writer for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" in 1969, for which he won an Emmy award.   

Known for films such as 1979's "The Jerk," 1991's "Father of the Bride" and 2003's "Cheaper By the Dozen," Martin received an honorary Oscar for his achievements in entertainment in 2013. He has hosted the Oscars three times.

He is also an accomplished pianist and banjo player, winning five Grammy awards for the comedy and bluegrass categories.

The AFI organization works to preserve motion picture history through film programs, festivals and awards. Previous recipients of the Lifetime Achievement award include Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Taylor, Meryl Streep and most recently, Jane Fonda.