55 Facts About Martin Short

1.

Martin Short has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.

2.

Martin Short is known for his work on the television programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live.

3.

Martin Short has had an active career on stage, starring in Broadway productions including Neil Simon's musicals The Goodbye Girl and Little Me.

4.

Martin Short provided voice-work for films like The Pebble and the Penguin, The Prince of Egypt, Treasure Planet, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Frankenweenie, and The Wind Rises.

5.

In 2015, Short started touring nationally with fellow comedian Steve Martin.

6.

Martin Short was born on March 26,1950, in Hamilton, Ontario, the youngest of five children of Olive Grace, a concertmistress of the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra, and Charles Patrick Martin Short, a corporate executive with Stelco, a Canadian steel company.

7.

Martin Short had three older brothers, David, Michael, and Brian, and one older sister, Nora.

8.

Martin Short's father was an Irish Catholic emigrant from Crossmaglen, South Armagh in the north of Ireland, who came to North America as a stowaway during the Irish War of Independence.

9.

Martin Short's mother died of cancer in 1968; his father died two years later, of complications from a stroke.

10.

Martin Short attended Westdale Secondary School and graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work in 1971.

11.

When Martin Short graduated from McMaster University, he intended to pursue a career in social work; however, he became interested in acting once he was cast in a Toronto production of Godspell that same year.

12.

Martin Short stated in the documentary Love, Gilda that he and Gilda Radner dated each other on and off during that time.

13.

Martin Short was cast in several television shows and plays, including the drama Fortune and Men's Eyes.

14.

In 1979, Martin Short starred in the US sitcom The Associates about a group of young novice lawyers working at a Wall Street law firm.

15.

Martin Short was encouraged to pursue comedy by McMaster classmates Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas, whom he joined in the improvisation group The Second City in Toronto, Ontario, in 1977.

16.

Martin Short came to public notice when the group produced a show for television, Second City Television, which ran for several years in Canada, then the United States.

17.

Martin Short helped revive the show with his many characters for season ten.

18.

Martin Short did impressions of such celebrities as Jerry Lewis and Katharine Hepburn.

19.

In 1989, Short headlined another one-hour comedy special, this time for HBO, I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood, Short's classic send-up of all things Hollywood.

20.

Martin Short starred as Jiminy Glick on Comedy Central's Primetime Glick.

21.

Martin Short interviewed performers and celebrities as the character Jiminy Glick.

22.

Martin Short joined the FX drama Damages as lawyer Leonard Winstone in 2010.

23.

Martin Short later voiced the character in a number of related TV specials in 2014 and 2016.

24.

Martin Short shot a new comedy special for television in Toronto in September 2011.

25.

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.

26.

In 2011, Martin 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.

27.

However, Martin Short appeared as a waiter, as he had only hosted three times.

28.

Martin Short starred in the Netflix original The Willoughbys as the impolite father.

29.

Martin Short resumed work in the theatre, playing a lead role in the 1993 musical version of the Neil Simon film The Goodbye Girl, on Broadway, receiving a Tony Award nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

30.

Martin Short had the lead role in the 1999 Broadway revival of the musical Little Me, for which he received a Tony Award and another Outer Critics Circle Award.

31.

In 2003, Martin Short took to the stage in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles run of The Producers.

32.

Martin Short played the role of the accountant, Leo Bloom, opposite Jason Alexander's Max Bialystock.

33.

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.

34.

Martin Short has continued to tour in his one-man show, which features many of his best-loved characters and sketches.

35.

Martin 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.

36.

Since 2015, Short has toured with fellow comedian Steve Martin.

37.

Martin Short met Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman in 1972 during the run of Godspell.

38.

Martin Short has a home on Lake Rosseau in Ontario.

39.

Martin Short's brother, Michael, is a comedy writer and twice winner of the Emmy Award for comedy sketch writing.

40.

Martin Short is uncle to the couple's two sons, Jack and Joe.

41.

Martin Short is a first cousin of Clare Martin Short, a former member of the British Parliament and former British cabinet minister.

42.

Martin 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.

43.

Martin 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.

44.

Martin Short is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism.

45.

Martin Short is an avid fan of his hometown team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.

46.

Martin Short received two Tony Award nominations, winning for Little Me in 1999.

47.

Martin Short has received twelve Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for SCTV, and AFI Life Achievement award: Mel Brooks.

48.

In 2014 Martin Short received the Robert Altman Award from Independent Spirit Awards alongside the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice.

49.

Martin Short has received various honours from his birthplace of Canada, including in 1994, being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

50.

In 1995, Martin Short received the Earl Grey Lifetime Achievement Award.

51.

Martin Short was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000.

52.

In 2015, a stamp of Martin Short was issued by Canada Post.

53.

In 2019 Martin Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada.

54.

In 2001 Martin Short was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from McMaster University.

55.

Martin Short has 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.