He was also an original cast member of the long-running theatrical revue Oh! Calcutta! He has made more than 70 appearances on film and television, including a memorable role as the co-inventor of the 'Opti-grab' in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk, and as the head television writer in My Favorite Year (1982).
However, at this point in his career, Martin was in the midst of writing the screenplay for his first starring role in the motion picture, The Jerk.
As the madman watches through his rifle scope, waiting for a clear shot, Navin fixes the slippery glasses of a customer, Stan Fox (Bill Macy), by adding a handle and a nose brake.
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There was a 1984 TV movie sequel The Jerk, Too, starring Mark Blankfield as Navin (the Steve Martin role in the original), and it co-starred Woody Allen's one-time girlfriend Stacey Nelkin.
The Jerk | clean and jerk | The Jerk (film) | Jerk It Out | Cool Jerk | the Jerk | Jerk Out | "Cool Jerk" | Come On Do The Jerk | Can You Jerk Like Me |
His film credits include The Mugger, Gamera the Invincible, Pretty Poison, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Buddy Holly Story, MacArthur, House Calls, Posse, The Jerk, The Mosquito Coast, Loose Cannons, Prizzi's Honor, and Wolfen.
In The Simpsons episode "Duffless", Bart dreams of a "Go-Go Ray" with the ability to force teachers and administrators to perform various fad dances, including the Mashed Potato, the Jerk, and the Freddie.
Steinberg produced and wrote the screenplay for "The Jerk, Too," the sequel to Steve Martin's "The Jerk" as well as "Porky's Revenge," the sequel to "Porky's." He then wrote and directed "The Boss' Wife" for Tri-Star Pictures.
Also people who dance the jerk wear hightop or retro shoes, including Chuck Taylor and Nike hightop shoes.
The group can be seen miming "Doin' the Jerk" on the 1965 beach party movie Beach Ball.
Thomson notes that Clark Gable was a rising star at thirty: “Now, in our collective recollection, Gable may seem older, worldlier, and more grown-up than Cruise was at thirty. But when did Gable ever risk playing the jerk to whom Cruise was totally committed in The Color of Money? When was Gable as uninhibitedly tender as Cruise managed in Risky Business? And could Gable have survived the black-hole narcissism of Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man?”