Steve Martin enjoys fatherhood at an older age because he is convinced he wouldn’t have made a good parent when he was younger.
The Pink Panther star became a father to his four-year-old daughter at the age of 67 and the experience has been “fantastic.” The 71-year-old admits having his first child at a later stage in his life has made him a more present father.
“I think if I’d had a child earlier, I would have been a lousy father because I would have misplaced my attention on my career,” he tells AARP magazine. “I am very forthcoming with her, and it’s great. She’s giving me way more than I’m giving her.”
Becoming a family man has also made Steve more aware of his health and staying in shape because he wants to be around for his writer wife Anne Stringfield and daughter.
“I do exercise, but gently,” he says. “I go on a treadmill and listen to a novel or watch television. I lift weights, but I just do my chest and arms. I do it for myself, but I do it for them as well.”
And for Martin his life has turned out just the way he wanted it. Despite a tough relationship with his father during his childhood, Martin has found true happiness in his older age.
“Very, very happy. I mean, it’s actually the perfect shape of a life,” he adds. “Except for the hard parts in the beginning ” the disharmony, panic, pain, with occasional moments of great affection and comedy success. It’s been a gentle uphill slope to a real, real happiness.”