Martin Short

Martin Hayter Short was born on March 26, 1950, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the youngest of five children. His mother, Olive Grace Short, served as concertmistress at the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra before her death from cancer in 1968. His father, Charles Patrick Short, was a corporate executive at the Canadian steel company Stelco who had emigrated from Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, as a stowaway during the Irish War of Independence; he died two years after his wife, from complications following a stroke. Short and his siblings were raised as Catholics. His eldest brother, David, was killed in a car accident in Montreal in 1962 when Short was twelve. Short attended Westdale Secondary School before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from McMaster University in 1971.

Rather than immediately pursuing a career in social work upon graduating, Short moved to Toronto to test himself as a performer. In March 1972, he was cast by Stephen Schwartz in the Toronto production of Godspell at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, a company that also included Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, and Jayne Eastwood, with Paul Shaffer serving as musical director. That same year, Short appeared in a staging of John Herbert's drama Fortune and Men's Eyes. The Godspell production later moved to the Bayview Playhouse, where it ran for 488 performances. In 1974, Short worked as a writer on Everything Goes, a nightly variety show produced for the Global Television Network in Southern Ontario. Encouraged by McMaster classmates Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas to pursue comedy more directly, Short joined the Second City improv troupe in Toronto in March 1977, taking over from John Candy in the company's ninth revue, The Wizard of Ossington.

Short gained broader recognition through his work on the Canadian television series Second City Television, known as SCTV, where he appeared in 1982 and 1983. On that program he developed several recurring characters, including defense attorney Nathan Thurm, aged songwriter Irving Cohen, and the oddball man-child Ed Grimley. He subsequently joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 1984–85 season, where he further developed and introduced characters including Jiminy Glick. His television work has also encompassed the sitcom Mulaney from 2014 to 2015, the variety series Maya and Marty in 2016, and the drama series The Morning Show beginning in 2019. Since 2021, Short has co-starred in the Hulu comedy series Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, a role that has earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award, the Golden Globe Award, and a Critics' Choice Television Award, as well as a SAG Award win.

Short's film career has included roles in 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). He has also contributed voice performances to animated features including 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 voiced the Cat in the Hat in the PBS Kids series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! from 2010 to 2013.

Short's Broadway career spans from 1972 to 2014 and includes appearances in Godspell and The Producers, as well as starring roles in The Goodbye Girl, Little Me, and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. His performance in Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl in 1993 earned him a Theatre World Award as well as a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1999 for his work in Little Me. In 2015, Short began touring nationally with comedian Steve Martin, and in 2018 the two released the Netflix special An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life, which received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Short has also received two Primetime Emmy Awards over the course of his career. In 2019, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.