Actor, writer and producer
Acclaimed stage and screen actor Martin Short is known for his wacky comedic characters and dead-on impressions, notably on SCTV and Saturday Night Live. In a career spanning over 40 years, he has delighted audiences across North America and beyond, and made laughter an important Canadian export.
Martin Short was born in 1950 in Hamilton, Ontario. After graduating from McMaster University with a degree in social work, he was cast in a 1972 production of Godspell, which launched his entertainment career. He joined The Second City improvisational theatre troupe and subsequently appeared in the TV series SCTV and Saturday Night Live, creating such memorable characters as obnoxious talk show host Jiminy Glick and the excitable, spiky-haired Ed Grimley.
He has starred in several comedies, including Three Amigos, Innerspace, Three Fugitives, Father of the Bride I and II, Mars Attacks! (alongside fellow GGPAA recipient Michael J. Fox), Clifford, and Inherent Vice.
On television, he hosted The Martin Short Show (1994, nominated for eight Emmy Awards), and co-hosted the NBC variety show Maya & Marty with Maya Rudolph. He wrote, produced and starred in three acclaimed comedy specials. He has appeared in guest roles on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother, Weeds, and Mulaney, and played lawyer Leonard Winstone in the legal drama Damages.
Mr. Short has also appeared in several stage productions, including his autobiographical one-man show, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, on Broadway and on tour. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in The Goodbye Girl, and won the Tony for Leading Actor in a Musical for the 1999 Broadway revival of Little Me.
He published his memoir, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, in 2014.
Among other honours, Martin Short is a Member of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals. He was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2000, and was one of five Canadian comedians honoured on commemorative stamps issued by Canada Post in 2014.