It was during this time, in August of 1982, that Steven got his big break and was booked for his first ‘Tonight Show’ appearance. The king of late night enjoyed the performance so much he invited Steven to appear again within a week, a rarity on ‘The Tonight Show.’ His back-to-back appearances helped put his fledgling career into high gear. The comic soon found himself performing his off-beat routines on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘Late Night with David Letterman,’ and numerous trips back to ‘The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.’
Wright expanded his comedy career to include comedy albums, film and television appearances. His 1986 debut album, I Have A Pony, earned him a Grammy nomination. In 1985, Steven starred in his first HBO Special ‘A Steven Wright Special.’ In 1989, Steven was honored with an Academy Award for Best Short Film for his film entitled ‘The Appointments of Dennis Jennings’ in which he starred and co-wrote. Other stars of the film included ‘Roseanne’s’ Laurie Metcalf and British comedian, Rowan Atkinson. In September of 1990, Steven starred in his second stand-up special for HBO called ‘Wicker Chairs and Gravity.’
Steven has been seen in numerous films including ‘Desperately Seeking Susan,’ Mike Meyers’ ‘So I Married An Axe Murderer’, Oliver Stone’s ‘Natural Born Killers,’ and Nora Ephron’s ‘Mixed Nuts’. Steven was the voice of the DJ, K-Billy in ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and starred with John Cleese and Jack Palance in New Line’s animated film, ‘The Swan Princess’ as the voice of Speed, the turtle. Steve also appeared as a sitcom actor in MGM’s ‘Speechless’ with Harry Shearer, and as a Mountie in the MGM release ‘Canadian Bacon,’ opposite the late John Candy.
In 1999, Steven played a guest starring role in Albert Brooks’ film ‘The Muse’ starring Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell, and Jeff Bridges. In ’98 he played a supporting role in the Universal release ‘Half-Baked’ and was a featured voice in ‘Babe 2: Pig in the City.’
Steven Wright is a regular guest on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman,’ ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,’ and ‘Late Night with Conan O’Brien.’ Steven Wright continues touring the U.S., Canada and overseas.
