--- name: "Martin Short" canonical: "https://film.one/person/martin-short" roles: ["Actor"] born: "26 March 1950" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 72 updated: "2026-09-17T03:50:53.384464+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Martin Short Actor. Born 26 March 1950 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 26 March 1950, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - **Active:** 2003–present - **Also known as:** Martin Hayter Short, Jiminy Glick, มาร์ติน ชอร์ต ## Fi1m on Martin Short > Martin Short does the joke with his whole body before the line arrives, which has been either the best thing in the film or too much of it. Give him a straight man, or a straight part, and he is better than his noise suggests. Oliver Putnam cannot say good morning without blocking it. In *Only Murders in the Building* (2021) Martin Short arrives in a scarf and cravat, both hands already moving, and directs whoever is nearest: his neighbours, the doorman, the corpse. That is the Short method in one flat. The face does something between the lines, the body does something under them, and the line itself is often the least of it. We laughed, repeatedly, at his readings of sentences that on paper are not jokes, and we could not always say afterwards what had been funny. He has worked like this from the start. The 1972 Toronto production of *Godspell* put him alongside the people who would make *SCTV* (1981), and Second City Toronto in 1977 taught him to build a character out of a voice, a set of tics and a catchphrase. Ed Grimley is the model for everything since. One season of *Saturday Night Live* (1984–85) followed, then films, beginning with *Three Amigos* (1986) as Ned Nederlander and the start of a long partnership with Steve Martin. *Father of the Bride* (1991) gave him Franck Eggelhoffer, the supporting turn people still mention first. *Clifford* (1994) is the one they mention with a wince. The complaint against him has always been the same: too much, too sweaty, trying too hard. It is not unfair. In a supporting role a little of him goes a long way; when a film asks for a lot, the tics can stop being a character and start being a habit. He has said as much himself, putting the greater part of his own career down as failure, which is harsher than we would be, but it is the verdict of a man who knows the difference between a part that fits him and one that does not. What surprised us was the third season of *Damages* (2007). As Leonard Winstone, the Tobin family lawyer, Short is dry, watchful and not funny once, and we spent the first two episodes waiting for the tic that never came. It is the best evidence that the mania is a choice rather than a limit. *Only Murders* works because Steve Martin plays it straight and Short is allowed to be the only loud thing on screen; Martin has always been the collaborator who gives him a wall to bounce off. Dana Covarrubias's scarves help too. The lesson for anyone choosing an evening is simple. Short at full volume is a matter of taste, and the taste is not everyone's. Short with a straight man beside him, or a straight part in front of him, is worth your time, and the second of those is rarer than it should be. ## Biography Martin Short is a Canadian actor and comedian. He was born on 26 March 1950 in Hamilton, Ontario, and attended McMaster University before beginning his career in stage productions including a Toronto run of Godspell. Short gained prominence through sketch comedy on SCTV and Saturday Night Live. He has appeared in films such as Three Amigos! (1986), Father of the Bride (1991) and Mars Attacks! (1996), and provided voice work for animated features including The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Treasure Planet (2002). On television he played Leonard Winstone in the third season of Damages (2007), receiving a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and has portrayed Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building (2021– ). Short was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1994. *Sources: damages.fandom.com, en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, primetimer.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) - *Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom* (2023), Fi1m 45, as Kingfish (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/aquaman-and-the-lost-kingdom.md) - *Only Murders in the Building* (2021), Fi1m 76, as Oliver Putnam — [page](https://film.one/tv/only-murders-in-the-building.md) - *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt* (2015), Fi1m 76, as Dr. Franff — [page](https://film.one/tv/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt.md) - *Damages* (2007), Fi1m 78, as Leonard Winstone — [page](https://film.one/tv/damages.md) - *Arrested Development* (2003), Fi1m 87, as Uncle Jack — [page](https://film.one/tv/arrested-development.md) ## Also known for - *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted* (2012), Stefano (voice) - *Mars Attacks!* (1996), Jerry Ross - *How I Met Your Mother* (2005), Garrison Cootes - *Treasure Planet* (2002), B.E.N. (voice) - *The Prince of Egypt* (1998), Huy (voice) - *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), Sebastian Ballentine - *Frankenweenie* (2012), Mr. Frankenstein / Mr. Burgemeister / Nassor (voice) - *The Spiderwick Chronicles* (2008), Thimbletack (voice) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/martin-short