Martin Short, the comedian who triumphed despite everything: ‘My career has been 80% failure’

When Slate asked in 2023 whether the star of Only Murders in the Building was a comedy genius or the most annoying actor on the planet, the response was swift. “Martin Short is a comedIC genius. End of story,” Ben Stiller posted on X. “Hard to believe people are actually debating whether or not Martin Short is funny. Newsflash: He is HILARIOUS.” Mark Hamill declared. They were far from the only celebrities to rally behind the actor in response to an article titled Why We Keep Putting Up with Martin Short?, in which critic Dan Kois described the actor as “exhausting and unfunny.”

The piece laid bare two realities. First, Martin Short’s humour — over-the-top, flamboyant and high-energy — is not to everyone’s taste. Second, he is widely adored by his peers. Both are reflected in the Netflix documentary Marty, Life Is Short, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, known for Body Heat and Dreamcatcher, who previously directed Short in Mumford.

“I would say my career has been 80% failure,” the star says in Marty, Life Is Short.

It might sound like false modesty — a way to downplay being the subject of a film about his own life — but a closer look at his career lends some weight to the remark. Now in his seventies, he is enjoying a peak in popularity, thanks in large part to the success of the Disney+ series Only Murders in the Building, where he stars alongside Selena Gomez and his close friend Steve Martin. The story of three amateur detectives obsessed with true-crime podcasts has brought him international recognition, award nominations, and rumours of a relationship with his co-star Meryl Streep — something he has not confirmed, as he remains notably private and does not use social media.

Media scrutiny and fans’ eagerness to see the romance confirmed have kept Short in the headlines, alongside another recent and tragic event: the suicide of his daughter, Katherine, in February.

Death has been a constant presence in the life of a man who says he had an exceptionally happy childhood. His humour does not stem from torment, as it does for comedians such as Jim Carrey or Richard Pryor; it was never an escape from reality. The son of a violinist and a steel executive, he is the youngest of five siblings. He was the star of a family in which everyone was witty, funny, and entertaining.

The first shadow fell when he was 12. While at summer camp, he received a phone call: his eldest brother had died in an accident. Before he turned 20, both his father and mother had also died. Over the course of his life, he built another family — a large one, with him at its emotional centre. “Let’s say you’re going to host a dinner party. And you invite Marty. And then it turns out Marty can’t come. You cancel the party,” Steve Martin sums up Short’s pull over his circle of friends — a group that includes Steven Spielberg, Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, Tom Hanks, and Rita Wilson. Together with Hanks and Steve Martin, they hold an annual party they call “colonoscopy eve.”

“We’re very excited,’’ Short said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “We go to Steve’s house around 5 p.m. the night before. There’s Jell-O, you know, there’s not much you can [eat]. You have to purge all day, and then we toast.”

“We all came over, we played poker, and we watched some funny movie, and you drink all this stuff,” Steve Martin added.

The next day, they all drive together to the appointment, and whoever lost at poker has to wait and go last. Once the test is over, they go out for a meal together.

The tight-knit nature of his friendships is a constant theme in the documentary, with both Hanks and Spielberg recalling that, when their children were young, they always preferred being at Short’s house.

Short did not always know he wanted to be an actor, although he enjoyed filming a TV show in the attic of his family home. He never studied acting at first: he began in medicine and later switched to social work. What he really wanted was to be a singer — a Canadian Frank Sinatra.

He joined a theatre group, and that is where he met Eugene Levy. It was the Schitt’s Creek star who made the call that changed his life: “You should be an actor — come to Toronto,” he told him.

He gave himself a year. If he did not find work in that time, he would return to his studies. But it worked: drawing on his boundless energy, he began creating eccentric characters. It was an extraordinary moment for Canadian comedy. Around him were John Candy, Rick Moranis, his close friend Catherine O’Hara — who has since died — and Dan Aykroyd. There was an abundance of talent. It was a vibrant period that reached its peak with the musical Godspell (1970).

Gilda Radner, one of the original Saturday Night Live cast members, became his on-and-off partner, but he ended up marrying her understudy in the musical, Nancy Dolman — a soft-spoken, blonde, almost angelic singer with whom he immediately fell in love. They were the couple everyone wanted to be.

“My husband and I went through a little rough patch, and we went to therapy,” O’Hara recalls in the documentary. “And one of the questions she was, ‘Do you have friends, do you know a couple whose relationship you would love to have or you’d love to emulate?’ We said, ‘Oh, we have these friends Marty and Nancy.’ And she said, ‘I can’t tell you how many people have named them when I’ve asked this question.’”

Short and Dolman adopted three children, she left the entertainment world, and they became a model family. But professionally, things were not going as well as Short had hoped, and he began to feel overshadowed by the success of those around him.

His films were flops, even though they seemed to have all the ingredients for success. He starred in Three Amigos (1986) alongside Chevy Chase and Steve Martin, two of the biggest comedians of the moment. The story of three silent-film actors who accidentally take on a group of outlaws failed to perform as expected at the box office.

Innerspace (1987) also seemed like a sure bet. In it, he played a supermarket clerk into whose body a miniaturized army lieutenant is accidentally injected. He co-starred with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, who fell in love during filming, and it was directed by Joe Dante. It was an engaging comedy with action and humour, yet it too flopped, as did Three Fugitives (1989), co-starring Nick Nolte.

But he did find success with Father of the Bride (1991), the remake of the Spencer Tracy–Elizabeth Taylor classic. Alongside his close friend Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, he played Franck Eggelhoffer, a wedding planner so flamboyant that executives worried he might be too much for the film. It was a huge success, and he returned for the sequel.

That success was not repeated with Mars Attacks!, Tim Burton’s ensemble film about a Martian invasion, in which he played the White House press secretary.

But nothing bombed more spectacularly than Clifford (1994), in which he played a 10-year-old boy. It is the film where he showcases his full range, unleashing his boundless physical comedy. When Harold Ramis, the writer of Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, saw it, he thought it was “a $100 million movie.” Audiences did not agree — nor did critics. Roger Ebert tore it apart, saying it was “a movie that should never have been made.” It was little comfort that Elizabeth Taylor later told him it was one of her favourite films, or that over time it has become a cult classic.

His greatest successes came through the characters he created, especially Jiminy Glick, a rude, bumbling interviewer whom The New York Times in 2002 described as “the most unpredictable and hilariously uninhibited comic creation to hit TV since Bart Simpson was in diapers.”

The roles he developed at the Canadian sketch comedy troupe Second City drew the attention of Saturday Night Live. He joined in its 10th season to help fill the void left by Eddie Murphy and worked alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Christopher Guest, and Billy Crystal. He lasted just a year — and nearly did not make it that far, admitting that during the fourth episode he tried to quit.

He also took on dramatic roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Morning Show, and Damages. While filming the legal drama starring Glenn Close, he received the worst news of his life: his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died shortly afterwards. The documentary is dedicated to her and to Catherine O’Hara. They had spent more than 30 years together.

Spielberg thought he might never be funny again. He and his wife, Kate Capshaw, became key sources of support, along with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson — and, of course, Steve Martin. He threw himself into work; he did not want to be alone at home. He says he does not want to be rich or influential, just to keep going and enjoy himself.

Largely stepping away from film, his career has focused on television, a live tour with Steve Martin, and widely acclaimed appearances on late-night shows, which led The New Yorker to describe him as the greatest talk show guest of all time. His career may have been a 80% failure, as he puts it, but the remaining 20% has made him a genuine star.

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