Age, Biography, and Wiki
Martin Short was born on March 26, 1950, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the youngest of five children. Short's early life was marked by a passion for comedy and theater, which eventually led him to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He began his professional journey in Canadian theater and later became a prominent figure in comedy troupes and television shows. Short's career took off with his involvement in "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) in 1984, catapulting him to international fame.
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
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| Date of Birth | 26 March 1950 |
| Age | 75 Years |
| Birth Place | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Horoscope | Aries |
| Country | Canada |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific measurements are not widely detailed, Martin Short is known for his energetic and expressive performances, which often involve physical comedy and versatile character portrayals.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Martin Short has been married to actress Gilda Radner's former assistant, Gilda's friend, and former nurse, Gail Silver, although this seems to be a common misconception. He is actually married to Gilda Radner's former assistant, Gail Silver, is not correct, as he is married to Gail Silver but not to Gilda Radner's assistant. Martin Short has been married to Gail Silver since 1980. The couple has three children together.
On film, Short has acted in comedy films such as Three Amigos (1986), Innerspace (1987), Three Fugitives (1989), Father of the Bride (1991), Captain Ron (1992), Clifford (1994), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), Mars Attacks! (1996), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), Mumford (1999) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006). Short voiced roles in The Pebble and the Penguin (1995), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), Treasure Planet (2002), Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012), Frankenweenie (2012), and The Wind Rises (2013). He also voiced The Cat in the Hat in the PBS Kids series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (2010-2013).
Short and his siblings—three older brothers, David, Michael, and Brian, and one older sister, Nora —were raised as Catholics. 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, Short attended Westdale Secondary School and then graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work in 1971. In the meantime, his mother died of cancer in 1968; his father died two years later, of complications from a stroke.
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. 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".
In 1980, he joined the cast of I'm a Big Girl Now, a sitcom starring Diana Canova and Danny Thomas. Canova was offered the sitcom because of her success playing Corinne Tate Flotsky on ABC's Soap and left Soap shortly before Short's newlywed wife Nancy Dolman joined it.
* 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.
After doing sketch comedy for several years, Short starred in Three Amigos (1986), Innerspace (1987), The Big Picture (1989), Captain Ron (1992) and Clifford (1994). He starred in Three Fugitives (1989), directed by Francis Veber, with Nick Nolte and James Earl Jones; he was the memorable scene-stealing character "Franck" in the 1991 remake of Father of the Bride and its sequel; and in Pure Luck (1991), directed by Nadia Tass, with Danny Glover and Sheila Kelley.
Short starred as Jiminy Glick on Comedy Central's Primetime Glick (2001–2003). He interviewed performers and celebrities as the character Jiminy Glick. 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." In 2004, he wrote and starred in Jiminy Glick in Lalawood with Jan Hooks as his wife, Dixie Glick. 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. 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. 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.
Short was the host of the defunct Walt Disney World attractions O Canada!, a Circle-Vision 360° film in the Epcot theme park's Canada pavilion, and "The Making of Me" at Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion, a 15-minute film about how pregnancy occurs. Short performed in his satirical one-man show, with a cast of six, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway. The show toured several cities in the spring of 2006, prior to opening on Broadway in August 2006; the show closed in January 2007. In it, he performed his classic characters Grimley, Cohen, and Glick. As Glick, Short brought a member of the audience (usually a celebrity) on stage and interviewed him or her. Jerry Seinfeld was the guest on opening night. The show also featured parodies of many celebrities including Celine Dion, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Tommy Tune, Joan Rivers, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Renée Zellweger, Jodie Foster, Rachael Ray, and Short's wife, actress Nancy Dolman. The cast album was released on April 10, 2007, and is available from Ghostlight Records, an imprint of Sh-K-Boom Records.
Short voiced the Cat in the Hat in the animated TV series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, which aired from 2010 to 2013. He later voiced the character in a number of related TV specials in 2014 and 2016. He shot a new comedy special for television in Toronto in September 2011. The special, I, Martin Short, Goes Home follows his return to his native Hamilton, Ontario and has a cast that includes Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Joe Flaherty, and Fred Willard. The special aired on CBC Television on April 3, 2012, and garnered Short a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Program or Series at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards. In 2011, Short joined the cast of How I Met Your Mother for its seventh season, playing Marshall's manic boss and was a judge on the first season of Canada's Got Talent (2012).
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 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. The performance earned Short a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. 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-at-home mother and raise their family. Short and Dolman adopted three children: Katherine, Oliver, and Henry. Dolman died of ovarian cancer on August 21, 2010.
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, 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. Short is also a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism. Short is a fan of his hometown team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
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| Husband | Nancy Dolman (m. 1980-2010) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Martin Short's net worth has been estimated to range between $25 million and $50 million depending on the source. His earnings come from a successful career in film and television, including roles in "Three Amigos," "Father of the Bride," "Mars Attacks," and the hit series "Only Murders in the Building" alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez.
Career, Business, and Investments
Martin Short's career is marked by significant milestones:
- Early Career: Short began his career in Canadian theater and comedy troupes, notably with Toronto's Second City.
- SNL and Fame: He joined SNL in 1984, which was a turning point in his career, making him a household name.
- Film Success: He has appeared in numerous films, including "Innerspace," "Pure Luck," and "Jungle 2 Jungle."
- Television Shows: Short created and starred in "The Martin Short Show" and has been a part of "Only Murders in the Building" on Hulu.
- Awards and Recognition: He has been honored with memberships in the Order of Canada, reflecting his contributions to Canadian arts.
He is known for his work on the television programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live. Short created the characters Jiminy Glick and Ed Grimley. He also acted in the sitcom Mulaney (2014–2015), the variety series Maya & Marty (2016), and the drama series The Morning Show (2019). He has also had an active career on stage, starring in Broadway productions including Neil Simon's musicals The Goodbye Girl (1993) and Little Me (1998–1999). The latter earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the former a nomination in the same category.
As Short was about to graduate from McMaster University, rather than immediately pursuing a career in social work, he moved to Toronto with intention of temporarily giving acting a shot. Right away, in March 1972, he landed his first piece of paid work as an actor: playing a plastic credit card inside a woman's purse in a Chargex television commercial. He was then cast by Stephen Schwartz for the new 1972 production of the Broadway hit Godspell being prepared at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre. Among other members of that production's cast were Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Jayne Eastwood, and Gerry Salsberg; Paul Shaffer was the musical director. As stated by Short in his 2014 memoir as well as in the 2018 documentary Love, Gilda, he and Gilda Radner dated each other on and off during that time.
In 1979, after working solely in Canada for the preceding seven years, Short landed a starring role in the American sitcom The Associates about a group of young novice lawyers working at a Wall Street law firm.
Short joined Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the 1984–85 season. 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." 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. Since then he has made multiple appearances on the show including on the SNL Christmas special in 2012, 2024 and Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special in 2015.
Short has continued to tour in his one-man show, which features many of his best-loved characters and sketches. 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. 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.
Over the course of Short's prolific career in film, television and theatre, Short has received various nominations. He received two Tony Award nominations, winning for Little Me in 1999. Short also has received sixteen Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for SCTV (1983), and AFI Life Achievement award: Mel Brooks (2014). In 2014, Short received the Robert Altman Award from Independent Spirit Awards alongside the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice.
Social Network
While specific details about his social media presence are not widely available, Martin Short is often mentioned in discussions about his projects and interactions with co-stars like Steve Martin and Selena Gomez.
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. 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. 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. He also played the role of Smokey the Hare on the TVOntario daytime kids' program Cucumber.
In 2006, he starred in another film with Tim Allen, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. In addition to his own series, Short has guest starred on several shows including Arrested Development (episode titled "Ready, Aim, Marry Me", 2005), Muppets Tonight (1996), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Weeds. He joined the FX drama Damages as lawyer Leonard Winstone in 2010. Short also provided the voices of several animated film characters, such as Stubbs in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), Hubie in The Pebble and the Penguin (1995), Huy in The Prince of Egypt (1998), Ooblar in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), B.E.N. in Treasure Planet (2002), Preminger in Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (2004), Thimbletack the Brownie in The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), Mr. Frankenstein/Mr. Bergermesiter/Nassor in Frankenweenie (2012), Stefano the sea lion in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012), Kurokawa in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises (2013), and The Jester in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2013).
Short has received various honours from his birthplace of Canada. In 1995, Short received the Earl Grey Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, he earned the Sir Peter Ustinov Award at the Banff Television Festival. Short was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000 and received a second star there in 2002 as part of the comedic group Second City Television (SCTV). In 2001, Short was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from his hometown Hamilton based McMaster University. Short has also received Medals from Queen Elizabeth II, including in 2002 the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2015, a stamp of Short was issued by Canada Post. In 2016, he received the Canadian Screen Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Education
Martin Short attended McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he studied social work. However, his true passion lay in the arts, leading him to pursue a career in comedy and acting instead of social work.
This comprehensive overview highlights Martin Short's remarkable career and personal life, showcasing his versatility and enduring impact on the entertainment industry.
Starting in 2021, he has starred and served as an executive producer in the Hulu crime comedy series Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. The show was nominated for a 2021 Peabody Award, and in July 2022, he received his 13th Emmy nomination for his role in it. He received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote that Short "gives a master class" in the series adding, "It's not a class in acting or comedy so much as it is a seminar in agelessness and professionalism, and in Short's unmatched ability to turn self-absorption into a virtue." In 2023, he voiced the role of Kingfish in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In 2024, he reprised his role as Jiminy Glick on Real Time with Bill Maher and guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live.
