Short and his siblings—three older brothers, David, Michael, and Brian, and one older sister, Nora[9]—were raised as Catholics.[10] His eldest brother, David, was killed in a car accident in Montréal in 1962 when Short was 12.
Encouraged by his mother in his early creative endeavours,[10] Short attended Westdale Secondary School and then graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work in 1971.[11] In the meantime, his mother died of cancer in 1968; his father died two years later, of complications from a stroke.[12]
His brother, Michael, would go on to become a comedy writer, also spending time at Second City Television (SCTV), and is 17 time nominee and three time winner of an Emmy Award for comedy sketch writing.[13]
Career
1972–1976: Early theatrical and Canadian television work
Short subsequently found work in several Canadian television shows and theatrical productions. These included being cast for the role of a tough, sexually predatory prison inmate in the 1972 staging of John Herbert's drama Fortune and Men's Eyes that had the upstart twenty-two-year-old actor commuting back to his hometown Hamilton, Ontario.[15][16] With the success of Godspell at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in downtown Toronto, by late 1972, the production moved uptown to the Bayview Playhouse where it ran for 488 performances.[17] Young Short's increased stage profile led to a guest spot on Right On, a teen-focused live program airing weekly in the after-school timeslot on the government-funded CBC TV.[18] He also played the role of Smokey the Hare on the TVOntario daytime kids' program Cucumber.
In June 1973, with Godspell winding down and Chicago's Second City improv comedy theatre starting up a sister company in Toronto, many of Short's Godspell peers (his girlfriend Radner, in addition to Levy, Eastwood, and Salsberg) as well as the rest of his social circle (Valri Bromfield and Dan Aykroyd) successfully joined the new troupe's first cast.[14] Short, on the other hand, resisted auditioning due to feeling a "phobia of being funny on demand" and considering himself a "traditional song-and-dance performer".[14]
Short was encouraged to pursue comedy by McMaster classmates Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas, in March 1977, joining the improvisation group The Second City, taking over for John Candy in The Wizard of Ossington, their ninth revue.[19][20][2]
In early 1978, Short secured his feature film debut via a supporting role in the Melvin Frank-directed British romantic comedy Lost and Found starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson. Filmed throughout late winter and early spring 1978 in Banff National Park and Toronto, the film saw limited North American release in June 1979 and was met with lukewarm reviews and poor box office returns.[21]
In 1979, after working solely in Canada for the preceding seven years, Short landed a starring role in the US sitcom The Associates about a group of young novice lawyers working at a Wall Street law firm.[22]
Short achieved wider public notice when the Second City group produced a show for television, Second City Television (SCTV), which ran for several years in Canada, then the United States. Short appeared on SCTV in 1982–83.[2] At SCTV, Short developed several characters before moving on to Saturday Night Live for the 1984–85 season:
Albino Vegas singer, Jackie Rogers Jr. and his father, Jackie Rogers Sr., the latter of which was mauled to death by a mountain lion during a comeback special that took place in the woods.
Oddball man-child Ed Grimley,[19] later featured on SNL and in his own short-lived animated television series entitled The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. The show, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera and aired for a single season in fall 1988, is the only animated series adapted from an SCTV character and a Saturday Night Live character to date.[2]
Saturday Night Live
Short joined Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the 1984–85 season.[25][26] He helped revive the show with his many characters for season ten (the last one produced by Dick Ebersol). "Short's appearance on SNL helped to revive the show's fanbase, which had flagged after the departure of Eddie Murphy, and in turn, would launch his successful career in films and television."[23] His SNL characters included numerous holdovers from his SCTV days, most notably, his Ed Grimley character, depicted on Saturday Night Live as a geeky everyman who is obsessed with Wheel of Fortune, plays the triangle, and often finds himself in bizarre situations rather than a miscast bad actor in several film and TV show parodies (The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley used the SNL characterization of him rather than the SCTV take on him). He also did impressions of such celebrities as Jerry Lewis and Katharine Hepburn.[25]
In addition to his work on SCTV and SNL, Short has starred in several television specials and series of his own. In 1985, Short starred in the one-hour Showtime special Martin Short: Concert for the North Americas.[27] This was Short's first live concert, interspersed with studio sketches and a wraparound featuring Jackie Rogers Jr. Co-produced by the CBC, this aired as The Martin Short Comedy Special in Canada in March 1986. In 1989, Short headlined another one-hour comedy special, this time for HBO, I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood, Short's classic send-up of all things Hollywood. It featured many of his characters including Ed Grimley and Jackie Rogers Jr.[28]
In 1996, he appeared in Tim Burton's sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks![29] as lascivious Press Secretary Jerry Ross. In 1997, he starred in A Simple Wish as male fairy godmother Murray. In 1997, he appeared as Wall Street broker Richard Kempster in Jungle 2 Jungle, with Tim Allen.[36] Short has had three television shows called The Martin Short Show, including a sitcom, The Martin Short Show, 1994; a sketch comedy show, The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show, 1995; and a syndicated talk show The Martin Short Show, which ran from 1999 to 2000.[37]
2000–2007: Primetime Glick
Short starred as Jiminy Glick on Comedy Central's Primetime Glick (2001–2003). He interviewed performers and celebrities as the character Jiminy Glick.[38]The New York Times in 2002 referred to the character as "the most unpredictable and hilariously uninhibited comic creation to hit TV since Bart Simpson was in diapers."[39] In 2004, he wrote and starred in Jiminy Glick in Lalawood with Jan Hooks as his wife, Dixie Glick.[40] In 2003, Short took to the stage once again in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles run of The Producers. Short played the role of the accountant, Leo Bloom, opposite Jason Alexander's Max Bialystock.[41][42] Although the role of Leo Bloom was originated on Broadway by Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks first approached Short about doing the part opposite Nathan Lane.[43] On the subject, Short has stated in numerous interviews that, while he was thrilled by the opportunity, the idea of having to move his family from their Los Angeles home to New York for a year was less than ideal and ultimately proved a deal-breaker.
He, along with Steve Martin and Chevy Chase appeared on an episode of Saturday Night Live as part of the "Five-Timers Club", on March 9, 2013, which included those actors who had hosted the show five or more times. However, Short appeared as a waiter, as he had only hosted three times.[61][62]
Short has continued to tour in his one-man show, which features many of his best-loved characters and sketches.[63] In addition to Fame Becomes Me, some titles that Short has used for his one-man show include Stroke Me Lady Fame, If I'd Saved, I Wouldn't Be Here, and Sunday in the Park with George Michael.[64] Short's memoir, covering his 40-year career in show business, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, was released on November 4, 2014.[8]
Since 2015, Short has toured with fellow comedian Steve Martin. Together their tours have included A Very Stupid Conversation in 2015, An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life in 2017, and The Funniest Show in Town at the Moment in 2021.[66] Their 2017 tour was filmed for Netflix as a special and was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Directors Guild of America Award nomination.
2019–present
In 2019 Short appeared on the Netflix talk show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee alongside Jerry Seinfeld in the episode "Martin Short: A Dream World Of Residuals". From 2019 to 2021 he took on a sinister role portraying a Dick Lundy, a disgraced filmmaker, in the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. Damon Wise of Deadline Hollywood wrote, "Short is a damn fine dramatic actor" citing his "brief but indelible guest role". Short said of the role, "Well, it came to me by the producers reaching out and asking me to do it. I don’t know why they wanted me, necessarily, but I was immediately interested. I’m very fascinated by conversation and discussion" around the MeToo movement.[67] The performance earned Short a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.[68] He also appeared as a Leprechaun in another Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! from 2021 to 2023. Short voiced the roles of Grandpa Frump in The Addams Family (2019) and Father Willoughby in the Netflix animated film The Willoughbys (2020) as the impolite father. He also reprised the role of Franck Eggelhoffer in the Nancy Meyers directed short film Father of the Bride Part 3(ish) (2020).
Short met Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman in 1972 during the run of Godspell. The couple married in 1980. Dolman retired from show business in 1985 to be a stay-home mother and raise their family. Short and Dolman adopted three children: Katherine, Oliver, and Henry.[75] Dolman died of ovarian cancer on August 21, 2010.[76]
Nancy Dolman's brother, screenwriter/director Bob Dolman (who served as a part of Second City Television (SCTV)'s Emmy-winning writing team alongside Short), married their close friend and colleague Andrea Martin, also in 1980. Short is uncle to the couple's two sons, Jack and Joe. Bob Dolman and Andrea Martin have since divorced (2004). Short is a first cousin of Clare Short, a former member of the British Parliament and former British cabinet minister.[80]
Short appeared in a 2001 episode on the Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire hosted by Regis Philbin, winning $32,000 for his charity,[82]Loyola High School. Short has actively campaigned for the Women's Research Cancer Fund, and he accepted a "Courage Award" on behalf of his late wife at a 2011 gala by the group.[83] Short is also a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.[84] Short is a fan of his hometown team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.[85]
In 2013, a commemorative three dollar (face value) Canadian coin, designed by Canadian artist Tony Bianco with Martin Short, displays the actor's summer home on Lake Rousseau in the Muskoka region of Ontario, with the head of Queen Elizabeth II, as at 77 years of age, bare headed, on the obverse side, was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint.[86][87][88][89]
^O'Brien, Conan (September 20, 2013). "Martin Short". Serious Jibber-Jabber | CONAN on TBS. Archived from the original on September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 1, 2024 – via YouTube.