Martin Short defies categorization. From Ed Grimley to Franck, the wedding planner in Father Of The Bride, Short’s comic range is spectacular.
Short earned a degree in social work from McMaster University star alongside Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Victor Garber in Godspell. He headed to Hollywood, doing stints on The David Steinberg Show, The Associates, and I’m A Big Girl Now before returning to Toronto to replace Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis on SCTV and earning an Emmy and a Nelly for his efforts.
After a single season on Saturday Night Live, Short returned to Hollywood to co-star with Steve Martin in Three Amigos! He has since added more than two dozen film and TV credits to his remarkably diverse résumé, including such audience favourites as Father Of The Bride, A Simple Wish, Merlin, and Alice In Wonderland.
When Neil Simon decided to remount his classic 1962 musical Little Me, the biggest challenge was to find a lead actor with both the energy and ability to juggle eight vastly different roles, night after night. For Simon, there was only one person for the role: Martin Short, who earned a Tony Award in 1999 for Best Lead Actor in a Musical.
As content with a well-crafted cameo as he is with a starring role, Short knows that character actors are the ones with staying power. As he explained to US magazine in 1997, “What’s great about being a character actor is you know that you can survive forever.”
