Trivia

First acting job was playing a giant Visa card in a TV commercial.

Majored in social work at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, after beginning as a pre-med student and then studying sociology.

His wife, actress Nancy Dolman, passed away from cancer on August 21st, 2010. She had been battling the disease since 2007.

In May 2012, while appearing on the "Today" Show, host Kathie Lee Gifford asked him several questions about his marriage to his wife, Nancy, in the present tense, indicating that she had no idea that Nancy had died two years earlier. After Short's segment was over, Gifford reappeared to apologize for not knowing about the death and the whole line of questioning.

Is one of very few former Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members to make guest appearances on the rival Saturday night sketch comedy show MadTV (1995) .

Was trained to be a social worker but got bit by the acting bug after taking a part in a production of "Godspell" in Toronto, Ontario.

Best friends with Steve Martin.

Older brother David was killed in a car accident in 1962. His mother, Olive Grace (Hayter) Short, who was of English and Irish descent, was a child prodigy of the violin and the first female concert-mistress in North America. She was concert-mistress for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. She married Short's father, Charles Patrick Short, in 1935--an Irish-born VP of Canada's largest steel company who came to North America as a stowaway. Olive Short died in 1968 after a five-year battle with cancer. Charles Patrick Short died in 1970 as a result of complications from a stroke.

His older brother died when Martin was 12, and by the time he reached age 20, both of his parents had died as well.

Counts Gilda Radner as his first real romantic love.

Has three children: Katherine Elizabeth (born December 3rd, 1983), Oliver Patrick (born 1986) and Henry (born 1990)

His father was born in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, in Northern Ireland.

He was awarded the C.M. (Member of the Order of Canada) on April 13,1994 and was invested on October 19, 1994 for his services to entertainment. One of Canada's best known comedians, he has made laughter an important Canadian export. His ability to delight audiences, while making them aware of their foibles, shines through in his stage, television and film performances. The generosity of his spirit is evident in his unstinting support of Big Brothers, the Easter Seals Telethon, the Organization for Deaf Children and the Canadian Red Cross.

On Inside the Actors Studio (1994), said his favorite curse word is "poo".

He was Mel Brooks' first choice to star opposite Nathan Lane as Leo Bloom in his Broadway version of "The Producers". In 2000 Short was hosting his short-lived talk show, The Martin Short Show (1999), and Brooks and Lane appeared as guests on the same episode--during which, sitting between Lane and Short, Brooks pulled out the contract for "The Producers", wanting them both to sign it right there. This was met with gales of surprised and flattered laughter from the two actors. Having professional obligations on the West Coast due to the talk show, as well as family obligations (he had three children enrolled in school in the Los Angeles area at the time) Short had to decline, and was visibly guilty as he told Brooks he couldn't sign at that moment and would consider the offer later. Lane helped the situation by doing the same. While Lane later accepted, Short declined and Matthew Broderick took his place (earning a Tony Award nomination). Short wound up enjoying a successful run opposite Jason Alexander in the Los Angeles production of "The Producers" in 2003.

Pictured on one of a set of five nondenominated Canadian commemorative postage stamps honoring Great Canadian Comedians, issued 29 August 2014. In addition to the main portrait, he is shown as his characters Ed Grimley, Jiminy Glick, and Jackie Rogers Jr. Others honored in this set are Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Catherine O'Hara, and Oliver Guimond. Price of each stamp on day of issue was 85¢.

Short is the youngest of five children. In addition to his two aforementioned brothers, the late David Short and Emmy winning television writer Michael Short, Short has an older brother Brian, vice president of Dover Industries in Canada, and an older sister Nora, an anesthesiologist.

Friends with David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Tom Hanks, Eugene Levy, Robin Williams, Chevy Chase, William Shatner and Diane Keaton.

Before he had a successful career in comedy, he used to work with Danny Thomas.

Met future Second City collaborator Dave Thomas in college in 1970 where they began acting together. Short appeared with Thomas in a production of "MacBeth" with Short as Lennox and Thomas as Banquo. A legendary production of "Godspell" in 1972 would include Thomas, plus other funsters Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Paul Shaffer and Andrea Martin. His future wife Nancy Dolman was Radner's understudy. Short first dated Radner and then began dating Dolman in 1974. They married in 1980.

Daughter Katherine Elizabeth Short attends New York University. She was chosen in 2003 to serve as Queen Shenandoah LXXVI for the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, VA. She is an aspiring actress.

Opened his one man show (with a full cast of six), Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway on August 17th. He had been enjoying a successful preview run since July 29th, 2006. (August 2006)

Son Oliver Patrick Short currently attends The University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business for marketing and film, television and theatre. He is an aspiring director/producer.

Was supposed to host the 1994 season premiere of Saturday Night Live (1975), but had to back out at the last minute. He was replaced by Steve Martin.

Steve Martin & Martin Short were nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series category for Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life (2018), but lost to John Mulaney for John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018).

Husband of Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman, most notable for her recurring role on the ABC cult sitcom Soap (1977) and Custard Pie (1977). She also appeared in his critically acclaimed 1985 television special, Martin Short: Concert for the North Americas (1985).

Owns a luxury vacation home in the affluent Ontario area of Muskoka, along with friends Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw.

In the fall of 1980 Short joined the cast of I'm a Big Girl Now (1980), a sitcom vehicle for Diana Canova that also starred Danny Thomas. Canova was offered the sitcom after her huge success playing Corinne Tate Flotsky on ABC's Soap (1977). She left the cast of the latter show in order to accept the offer--shortly before Short's newlywed wife, Nancy Dolman, joined the cast. The show was an instant flop, and ratings declined for Soap (1977), causing both shows to be canceled that season.

In Pure Luck (1991) Proctor's (Short) violent, allergic reaction to bee stings influenced the make-up idea behind Primetime Glick (2001).

His period with Saturday Night Live (1975) made him a major comedy star, but he didn't enjoy it at all. That was in part because the easygoing production style of SCTV Channel (1983)'s prerecorded format contrasted with "SNL"'s demanding production schedule with live comedy that had to be prepared and staged in a week's time. Regardless, when Lorne Michaels returned to produce the show, he specifically asked Short if he would be interested in being the sole returning player in the 1985-86 season. Short declined, but confessed in retrospect that he could have enhanced his career further if he had agreed to do so.

First cousin of British politician Clare Short.

Shares the same birthday with and is friends with Vicki Lawrence.

Ex-brother-in-law of Andrea Martin.

Graduated from Westdale High school in Hamilton, Ontario.

Received the Earl Grey Award for his work in Second City TV (1976) at the Gemini Theatre in Toronto. (1995)

Brother-in-law of Bob Dolman.

Uncle to Bob Dolman's and Andrea Martin's two sons, Jack Dolman (born 1981) and Joe Dolman (born 1983).

Friends with: Steve Martin, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, William Shatner, Tom Hanks, Selena Gomez, Maya Rudolph, Jerry Lewis, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Matthew Broderick, Chevy Chase, Vicki Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jim Carrey, Diane Keaton, Bill Murray, Amy Poehler, Kelsey Grammer, Tina Fey and John Candy.

He was awarded the 2002 Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal from the Canadian Governor General. He lives in Hollywood, California.

Mentioned in "Married with Children" (1986) {Death of a Shoe Salesman (#7.10)} (Death of a Shoe Salesman (1992)).

He was awarded the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Canadian Governor General. He lives in Rosseau, Ontario, Canada.

Born on the same date as Teddy Pendergrass.