Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to Co-Host Academy Awards

By Ernio Hernandez
November 3, 2009

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts for the 82nd Academy Awards, Oscar telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman announced late Nov. 3.

"We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars," stated Shankman and Mechanic in a release. "Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event."

Martin has previously hosted the telecast twice. The performer-writer is known for his work in such films as "Man with Two Brains," "Roxanne," "L.A. Story" and "The Jerk." He has also penned plays for the stage that include Picasso at the Lapin Agile, W.A.S.P. and The Underpants.

Baldwin, currently continuing his Emmy Award-winning performance on NBC's "30 Rock," was nominated for an Academy Award for "The Cooler." The oft-stage star earned a Tony Award nomination for his turn in Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire. His other credits include Twentieth Century, Serious Money and Loot.

Both Baldwin and Martin have hosted "Saturday Night Live" on numerous occasions. The duo is set to appear together next — opposite another stage veteran Meryl Streep — in the film "It's Complicated."

The 2009 Academy Awards will be presented March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on ABC. For more, visit Oscar.com.