Went dramatic and appeared in a 1974 production of "Fortune and Men's Eyes" which dealt with prison rape.

He was awarded the C.M. (Member of the Order of Canada) on April 13, 1994 for his services to entertainment.

Owns a luxury vacation home in the affluent Ontario area of Muskoka, along with friends Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw.

Uncle to Bob Dolman's and Andrea Martin's two sons, Jack (born 1981) and Joe (born 1983).

Is one of very few ex "Saturday Night Live" cast members who have made guest appearances on the rival Saturday night sketch comedy show "MADtv".

Short joined the cast of "I'm a Big Girl Now" (1980), a sitcom vehicle for Diana Canova also starring Danny Thomas, in the fall of 1980. Canova was offered the sitcom after her huge success playing Corinne Tate Flotsky on ABC's "Soap" (1977), and she left the cast of the latter show in order to accept the offer - shortly before Short's newlywed wife, Nancy Dolman, joined it. "I'm A Big Girl Now" (1980) was an instant flop, and ratings declined for "Soap" (1977), causing both shows to be canceled that season.

Short is the youngest of five children. In addition to his two aforementioned brothers, the late David Short and Emmy winning television writer Michael Short, Short has an older brother Brian, vice president of Dover Industries in Canada, and an older sister Nora, an anesthesiologist.

On Inside the Actor's Studio, said his favorite curse word is "poo".

Son Oliver Patrick Short currently attends The University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business for marketing and film, television and theatre. He is an aspiring director/producer.

Was supposed to host the 1994 season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" (1975), but he had to back out at the last minute. He was replaced by Steve Martin.

Husband of Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman, most notable for her recurring role on the ABC cult sitcom "Soap" (1977) and "Custard Pie" (1977). She also appeared in his critically acclaimed 1985 television special, Martin Short: Concert for the North Americas (1985) (TV).

Met future Second City collaborator Dave Thomas in college in 1970. They began acting together. Short appeared with Thomas in a production of Macbeth in which Short was Lennox and Thomas was Banquo. A legendary production of Godspell in 1972 would include Thomas, plus other Canadian funsters Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Paul Shaffer, and Andrea Martin. His future wife, 'Nancy Dolman',, was Radner's understudy. Short dated Radner first, and began dating Dolman in 1974. They married in 1980.

Won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in the Broadway revival of "Little Me." [1999]

Has three children: Katherine Elizabeth (born December 3rd, 1983), Oliver Patrick (born 1986) and Henry (born 1990)

Won Broadway's 1999 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for a revival of "Little Me." He was also nominated in the same category in 1993 for "The Goodbye Girl."

He was Mel Brooks's first choice to star opposite Nathan Lane as Leo Bloom in his Broadway version of The Producers. In 2000, Short was hosting his short-lived talk show, "The Martin Short Show" (1999), and Brooks and Lane appeared as guests on the same episode - during which, sitting between Lane and Short, Brooks pulled out the contract for The Producers, wanting them both to sign it right there. This was met with gales of surprised and flattered laughter from the two actors. Having professional obligations on the West Coast due to the talk show, as well as family obligations (he had three children enrolled in school in the Los Angeles area at the time) Short had to decline, and was visibly guilty as he told Brooks he couldn't sign at that moment and would consider the offer later. Lane helped the situation by doing the same. While Lane later accepted, Short declined and Matthew Broderick took his place (earning a Tony Award nomination). Short wound up enjoying a successful run opposite Jason Alexander in the Los Angeles production of The Producers in 2003.

In Pure Luck (1991) Proctor's (Martin Short) violent, allergic reaction to bee stings influenced the make-up idea behind "Primetime Glick" (2001).

Older brother David was killed in a car accident in 1962. His mother, Olive Short, was a child prodigy of the violin, and was the first female concertmaster in North America. She was concertmaster for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. She married Short's father, Charles Patrick Short, in 1935--an Irish VP of Canada's largest steel company who came to North America as a stowaway. Olive Short died in 1970 after a five-year battle with cancer. Charles Patrick Short died in 1972 as a result of complications from a stroke.

Daughter Katherine Elizabeth Short currently attends New York University. She was chosen in 2003 to serve as Queen Shenandoah LXXVI for the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Virginia. She is an aspiring actress.

Brother of Michael Short

Brother-in-law of Bob Dolman and ex-brother-in-law of Andrea Martin.

The August 17th, 2006 red carpet event that accompanied the opening night of Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (as well as the opening night party that followed the performance at Tavern on the Green) was attended by: Martin Short and Nancy Dolman, cast members Marc Shaiman, Mary Birdsong, Nicole Parker, 'Brooks Ashmanskas' and Capathia Jenkins, writer Scott Wittman, Lauren Bacall, Phyllis Newman, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Nathan Lane, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, Kathleen Marshall, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crystal and Janice Crystal, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Jayni Luke, Jerry Seinfeld and Jessica Seinfeld, Andrea Martin, Paul Shaffer and Cathy Vasapoli, Larry David and Laurie Lennard, Harry Smith, James Marsden, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Allyson Tucker, Eugene Levy, Christine Ebersole, Jason Sudeikis, Chris Elliott, Craig Bierko, Jerry Mitchell, Matthew Morrison, Michael Feinstein, Kristen Johnston, Sara Gettelfinger and others.

Graduated from Westdale High school in Hamilton, Ontario.

Received the Earl Grey Award for his work in SCTV at the Gemini in Toronto. [1995]

His brother died when he was 12, and, by age 20, both his parents, too.

Majored in social work at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario after beginning as a pre-med student and then studying sociology.

First acting job was playing a giant Visa card in a TV commercial.

Was trained to be a social worker but got bit by the acting bug after taking a part in a production of "Godspell" in Toronto, Ontario.