# Steve Martin is Spanish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288 "2006-01-23T19:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/21 "2006-01-24T01:08:04Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Don’t forget [Uncle Joe](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0261724/) (who has an amazingly long list of straight-to-videos in his filmography). Requisite MST3K quote: “Does anything really _star_ Joe Estevez?” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/22 "2006-01-24T01:40:55Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Don’t forget [Uncle Joe](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0261724/) (who has an amazingly long list of straight-to-videos in his filmography). Whoa! I didn’t realize _Werewolf_\* was made in 1996! Why does it look like vintage 80s schlock, then? ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/23 "2006-01-24T02:36:14Z")
A [third](http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/steve_martin_biog.html) bio (not wiki, not IMDB) also says of English/Irish/Scottish descent. Father Glenn Martin, an aspiring actor, mother, Mary Lee, don’t “sound” Spanish. Let me be the 7th to say I think there is a bit of confusion with the friend & Martin is almost certainly not Hispanic. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/24 "2006-01-24T02:48:56Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > Maybe your friend was thinking of Martin Sheen, one of whose actor sons (Emilio Estevez) reclaimed their original Latino surname. My guess this is exactly it. Someone along the line is getting Steve Martin and Martin Sheen mixed up. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/25 "2006-01-24T09:05:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He goes by his real name; he hasn’t shortened it from Martinez or anything. No, his real name is Gern Blanston. Steve Martin only makes movies to support his educational tape business, “Learn with Gern”. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/26 "2006-01-24T10:01:29Z")
He did make an admirable effort to teach Spanish to Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/27 "2006-01-24T12:20:33Z")
> [@JDeMobray](#): > > Don’t forget Men at Work > [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > I omitted it because the [imdb.com](http://imdb.com) age says their characters have different surnames and I was going for a list in whch Martin, Charlie and Emilio played related characters. IIRC, they played cousins in that film. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/28 "2006-01-24T13:11:38Z")
Don’t be ridiculous! He’s played by Raymond Burr. How ciould _he_ be Spanish? > **[Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0197521/)** > > Godzilla: King of the Monsters!: Directed by Ishirô Honda, Terry O. Morse. With Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi, Akira Takarada. A 400-foot (122-meter) dinosaur-like beast, awoken from undersea hibernation off the Japanese coast by... ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/29 "2006-01-24T15:04:12Z")
Let me also add my name to those who think that the OP’s friend was talking about Martin Sheen ne Ramon Estevez. I don’t think the OP’s friend has much of a case, though. Sheen’s mother was Irish-American and Sheen has claimed closer emotional ties to his Irish-Catholic side. And I’ve never heard that he has “denied” being of Spanish descent. As an aside, about 15 years ago, I worked in the same company as one of Sheen’s non-acting brothers for a short time. The funny thing was, he always referred to him as “Sheen,” not as Ramon or Martin. ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/30 "2006-01-24T16:04:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Don’t be ridiculous! > He’s played by Raymond Burr. How ciould _he_ be Spanish? Well, if Charlton Heston can be [Mexican](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052311/)… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/31 "2006-01-24T19:45:40Z")
> [@JDeMobray](#): > > Don’t forget _Men at Work_, possibly the best comedy ever about Peeping-Tom-Garbagemen-Entangled-With-Mob-Hitmen-In-A-Toxic-Wast-Dumping-Scheme. 😃 Remember Louis, the psychotic dude who joins them? Louis(pointing gun at cop):Yeah, cop, I know you, man. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, we’ve got us another crazy nigger here with a gun. Well, let me tell you something. Human life means very little to me at this point in time. You see, I thrive on misery. In the jungle, misery’s all you got. But things are different back here in the world, or so they seem. Nobody wants to talk about pain and suffering. Everybody wants everything to be nice and civil. Well, OK then. Let’s be nice; let’s be civil. And let’s drop those guns before I pull this trigger and change the way you feel about me. Great movie! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/32 "2006-01-24T19:56:12Z")
> [@Pashnish Ewing](#): > > > [@CalMeacham](#): > > > > He’s played by Raymond Burr. How ciould he be Spanish? > > Well, if Charlton Heston can be [Mexican](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052311/)… and John Wayne can be Mongolian… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/33 "2006-01-24T20:01:02Z")
> [@Pashnish Ewing](#): > > Well, if Charlton Heston can be [Mexican](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052311/)… … then John Wayne might make a convincing [Ghengis Khan](http://imdb.com/title/tt0049092/)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/34 "2006-01-24T20:03:25Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Requisite MST3K quote: > > “Does anything really _star_ Joe Estevez?” hee…I think they’ve also used that line with Ben Murphy. “Isn’t it more accurate to say that the camera was pointed at Ben Murphy?” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/35 "2006-01-24T20:32:39Z")
And Anthony Quinn can be any tannish-skinned ethnicity… Thanks, folks! He definitely said Steve Martin (I have a literal mindedness so I know I automatically linked up a mental image of SM with his comments) but I have no problem believing he was mixed up somewhere along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/36 "2006-01-24T20:39:50Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > … then John Wayne might make a convincing [Ghengis Khan](http://imdb.com/title/tt0049092/)? 😃 [Don Adams] Missed it by that much! [/DA] ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/37 "2006-01-24T21:32:02Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > … then John Wayne might make a convincing [Ghengis Khan](http://imdb.com/title/tt0049092/)? 😃 …and Mickey Rooney can be [asian](http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5589/rooney1fg.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/38 "2006-01-24T22:04:47Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > Maybe your friend was thinking of Martin Sheen, one of whose actor sons (Emilio Estevez) reclaimed their original Latino surname. Make it two of his actor sons (Emilio y Ramon) and one actress daughter (Renee, a bit character on **The West Wing** , who plays one of the secretaries, not a Bartlet daughter), and God knows how many I don’t know about. There used to be a joke (Leno?) about how all the stars of **Young Guns** were Martin Sheen’s kids, even though they all had different last names. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/39 "2006-01-24T22:12:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Remember Louis, the psychotic dude who joins them? > > Louis(pointing gun at cop):Yeah, cop, I know you, man. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, we’ve got us another crazy nigger here with a gun. Well, let me tell you something. Human life means very little to me at this point in time. You see, I thrive on misery. In the jungle, misery’s all you got. But things are different back here in the world, or so they seem. Nobody wants to talk about pain and suffering. Everybody wants everything to be nice and civil. Well, OK then. Let’s be nice; let’s be civil. And let’s drop those guns before I pull this trigger and change the way you feel about me. > Great movie! He’ll do it! He’ll blow off his head! That’s right! HIS WHOLE HEAD! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288/40 "2006-01-24T22:19:24Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > The only Emilio Estevex movie I saw was the _Mighty Ducks_. And maybe some movie about them being hunted by some guys in L.A. Or something. He mostly retired by the time I was old enough to watch his flicks. [Repo Man?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087995/) He’s retired? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-martin-is-spanish/341288.md?page=3)