Martin Short

The engine of physical comedy

Martin Short doesn't walk into a room; he bounces off the walls with an energy that seems to defy the laws of thermodynamics. The Canadian actor was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1950. He grew up in a home where culture was as essential as oxygen. His mother was concertmaster of the local symphony orchestra, and his father worked as an executive at a steel mill.

Tragedy came to him far too soon. He lost his older brother in a car accident and both of his parents before he turned twenty. But Short used humor as a defense mechanism and a means of survival. Instead of sinking, he decided that laughter would be his profession.

In 1972, he joined the cast of the Toronto production of the musical Godspell. There he shared the stage with Eugene Levy and Gilda Radner. It was ground zero for a generation that would transform American comedy over the following three decades.

National television was waiting for him.

SCTV's lab and the move to New York

In the early eighties, he joined the team of SCTV. On this sketch comedy show, he perfected eccentric characters such as Ed Grimley. His impersonations weren't about an exact likeness but about capturing a specific quirk of the character.

In 1984, he joined Saturday Night Live. It took only one season for audiences to stop missing Eddie Murphy. His parodies of Jerry Lewis or Katharine Hepburn stood out for their overwhelming technical precision. Short never settled for just telling a joke. He put his whole body into the bit.

And the gamble paid off.

Movies came calling with ¡Three Amigos! in 1986. He shot the film in the deserts of California alongside Steve Martin and Chevy Chase. The chemistry with Steve Martin was instant and grew into a creative partnership that still lasts.

In 1987, he starred in Innerspace under the direction of Joe Dante. The film won an Oscar for its visual effects. But the real special effect was Short's face. He had to convey the panic of a hypochondriac with a tiny spaceship navigating through his veins.

He earned a million dollars for his role as Franck Eggelhoffer in the sequel to Father of the Bride in 1995. His character was an event planner with an accent impossible to place on a map. He made every one of his scenes the most memorable part of a mainstream, lightweight movie.

Theater Haven and the Upper West Side

The theater was always his safe haven when movies offered him mediocre scripts. He won a Tony Award in 1999 for the musical Little Me. Short prefers the sweat of live performance to the endless waiting on film sets. On stage, there's no room for mistakes and no second takes.

In 2015, he launched a live tour with Steve Martin that played theaters around the world. That back-and-forth of quick insults and anecdotes from the old guard of Hollywood served as a dress rehearsal. They were laying the groundwork for his next big move in the industry.

In 2021, he premiered Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. He plays Oliver Putnam, a struggling Broadway director who lives on hummus and expensive velvet coats. The series blends classic mystery with a fierce satire of our obsession with real-life crimes.

The project broke audience records.

The show reached its fourth season in 2024. Martin Short received multiple Emmy Award nominations for this work. Filming for these episodes took place at Silvercup Studios in New York during the winter months.

He keeps his primary residence in Pacific Palisades and a country home in Ontario. Nancy Dolman, his wife of three decades, died in 2010. His estimated net worth of 2024 tops $50 million.