Martin Short biography

Date of Birth: March 26, 1950

Martin Short was born in the so-called "lunch bucket" town of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His father was an executive at one of the local steel mills while his mother was a concert violinist. After graduating with a major in social work from Hamilton's McMaster University, he moved to Toronto where he landed a stage role in a production of Godspell. In 1977, Short joined the cast of the Second City comedy stage group and performed with members of that group—including John Candy, Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas—on television with their comedy program SCTV.

In 1984, Martin became a cast member of the Saturday Night Live cast and then began landing roles in Hollywood films, including as the wedding planner with an almost impenetrable accent in Father of the Bride (1991). The diminutive actor maintains a certain boyishness about him and attests that, "Adults and kids laugh at the same kind of things really. Some grownups just won't admit it."

Martin received a Daytime Emmy award nomination as "Outstanding Talk Show Host" for The Martin Short Show in 2000, and a Canadian Comedy Award nomination in 2002 for his series Primetime Glick. He received his fourth Emmy nomination in 2010 for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" for his work in the crime drama Damages. He shared his first Emmy win in 1983 for "Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program," for SCTV Network 90 with 11 other writers.

In 2012, Martin did a little voice work for two animated films. He brought the character named Stefano to life for Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and also voiced three characters for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie: Mr. Frankenstein, Mr. Burgmeister and Nassor. On a slightly different note, Short was also one of three judges for the first season of the talent show Canada's Got Talent. More recently, he lent his voice to the animated film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014).

In 2013 Martin hosted the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards, then returned as host in 2014. In 2016, he earned a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Screen Awards, and in 2018, he won a Canadian Screen Award for voicing The Cat in the Hat in the animated TV show The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About Halloween!

Martin is the father of three adult children. His wife Nancy, to whom he'd been married 30 years, passed away on August 21, 2010.