Steve Martin joked with the audience about his prize

Martin, a host of comedy show Saturday Night Live, joked about the prize.

"This evening is especially meaningful to me because when I was a kid my friends and I used to play American Cinematheque awards show," he said.

The organisation described him as a "Renaissance man" who has excelled in acting, comedy, writing, novels, art and banjo playing.

Martin told the audience, which included Ron Howard, who directed him in Parenthood: "There are so many familiar faces tonight, people I've worked with, people I haven't seen in years and I just thought, 'Why can't we wear name tags? What would be so wrong?'".

He was cheered as clips from his films were played.

Last year the honour went to Nicole Kidman, while previous years have seen Eddie Murphy, Mel Gibson, Sean Connery and Arnold Schwarzenegger honoured.

American Cinematheque is a non-profit arts organisation and uses proceeds from its annual awards ceremony to host screenings and other events.