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Dec 9, 2022 · Martin Short is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer, and writer. Short was born in Hamilton, Ontario, on March 26, 1950, to Olive Grace and Charles Patrick Short. Advertisement. Martin Short’s mother was a concertmistress with the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra, and his father was a corporate executive with Stelco, a Canadian steel company.
Dec 25, 2023 · The family faced an early tragedy when David Short, Martin’s brother, met with a fatal car accident in 1962. David Short was the son of Charles Patrick Short and Olive Grace Hayter, and he left behind siblings Martin Short, Michael Short, Brian Short, and Nora Short. While David’s life was cut short, the surviving brothers went on to carve ...
When Charles Patrick Short was born on 28 March 1909, in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Ireland, his father, James Short, was 45 and his mother, Mary A Quinn, was 33. He had at least 2 sons with Olive Grace Hayter.
Apr 27, 2022 · Death: June 07, 1970 (61) Canada. Immediate Family: Son of James Short and Mary Short. Husband of Olive Grace Hayter. Father of David Charles Short; Martin Short; Private; Private and Private. Brother of Lily Gallagher; Patricia Short; Greta Agnew; Clare Griffin; James Short and 4 others. ; Patrick Short; Thomas Short; Maisie Murphy and Francis ...
Martin Short. Actor: Innerspace. Martin Hayter Short OC is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, singer, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada, and has received Medals from Queen Elizabeth II, including in 2002 the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2012 the Queen ...
- Overview
- Early life
- Career
Martin Short (born March 26, 1950, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) Emmy- and Tony-winning Canadian actor, comedian, and writer known for his work on television comedy shows such as SCTV Network and Saturday Night Live, movies such as Three Amigos! (1986) and Father of the Bride (1991), and, more recently, the streaming crime comedy series Only Murders i...
Short is the youngest of five children born to Olive (née Hayter) and Charles Patrick Short. He grew up in Hamilton, Ontario. His mother had been the concertmaster for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and his father was an executive with Stelco, a large Canadian steel company. Growing up, Short idolized Frank Sinatra.
As a boy, Short put on pretend variety shows, playing different roles such as host, guest, and comedian. He also developed his comedy chops in his large, rambunctious Irish Roman Catholic family. He had to deal with a succession of tragedies, starting at the age of 12, when his eldest brother died in a car crash. Five years later he lost his mother to cancer, and, when Short was 20, his father died of a stroke. In his 2014 autobiography, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, he described how he was able to withstand these emotional blows: “When you’re met with fire early, you develop a certain Teflon quality.”
Short made his debut as a professional stage actor in 1972 in a Toronto production of Godspell, which also featured Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner and Victor Garber, alongside musical director Paul Shaffer. Short became romantically involved with Radner during the production, but he wound up marrying her Godspell understudy, actress Nancy Dolman. The couple would adopt three children. Dolman died of ovarian cancer in 2010 (as had Radner in 1989).
In 1977 Short became a cast member of the Toronto branch of the Second City improv company, where he developed a persona that would become among the most beloved of his many hilarious characters: the excitable, spastic Ed Grimley, whose hair rises to a gelled point, trouser waist climbs his midriff, and signature catchphrase is “I must say.” Grimley was a staple character for Short when, after a sojourn in Hollywood, he joined the cast of SCTV Network (earlier known as Second City Television or SCTV) starting with its 1981–82 season, reuniting with former classmates Levy and Thomas, along with other Second City alumni such as John Candy, Andrea Martin, Joe Flaherty, and Catherine O’Hara. Short won an Emmy Award in 1983 for his writing on the show.
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Short moved over to Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the 1984–85 season, joining an “all-star cast” that included Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, and Harry Shearer. In I Must Say, Short described his one season on the show as a “roller coaster of elation and anxiety,” adding, “With thirty years’ perspective, I now recognize that I should have allowed myself to step back for a moment and simply exult in the privilege of doing that show.” One source of anxiety, he wrote, was having to be “funny on demand.”
The pace of SNL’s production was so harried that Short almost never saw his family: “The kind of show business I wanted was what I saw on The Dick Van Dyke Show,” he quipped in an interview with USA Today years later, “a 9–5 job and go back to New Rochelle.” Still, he had a number of memorable skits on SNL, including one in which he and Shearer played a pair of brothers who aspire to compete in the Olympics in the nonexistent sport of men’s synchronized swimming. Short’s character cannot swim, so he is shown in the pool wearing a life preserver. Guest plays their coach.
- Fred Frommer
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. Has three children: Katherine Elizabeth (born December 3rd, 1983), Oliver Patrick (born 1986) and Henry (born 1990)
