Martin Short: The Complete Story of His Life, Career, Family, and Heartbreaking Personal Tragedies
There are few entertainers in Hollywood history who can claim the kind of breadth, longevity, and sheer creative output that Martin Hayter Short has built over more than five decades.
Who Is Martin Short?
Born on March 26, 1950, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Short is a comedian, actor, singer, writer, and stage performer whose name is synonymous with brilliance in sketch comedy, beloved film roles, Tony Award–winning Broadway performances, and now, a new generation of fans who know him from the hit Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.
But behind the dazzling smile and the relentless, almost supernatural energy Martin Short brings to every performance is a man who has known extraordinary grief — and who has somehow, against every odd, channeled that grief into a life defined by joy, humor, warmth, and an unwavering love for his family.
Early Life: Forged by Loss From the Very Beginning
Martin Short grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, the youngest of five children born to parents Charles and Olive Short. His father was known for his sharp sense of humor, while his mother — a violinist with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra — nurtured his deep passion for performing.
From a very young age, Short was drawn to the stage. As a child, he recorded his own albums on a reel-to-reel recorder and improvised talk shows in which he played host, guest, and audience all at once. The seeds of one of comedy’s greatest careers were being planted in the living rooms and hallways of a Hamilton home.
But Short’s childhood was not without devastation. He had to deal with a succession of tragedies starting at the age of 12, when his eldest brother died in a car crash. Five years later, he lost his mother to cancer, and when Short was 20, his father died of a stroke.
By the time Martin Short was old enough to vote, he had already buried his mother, his father, and his brother. In his 2014 autobiography, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, he described how he was able to withstand these emotional blows: “When you’re met with fire early, you develop a certain Teflon quality.”
It is a phrase that would come to define him.
Education and the Road to Comedy
Short attended Westdale Secondary School and then graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work in 1971. He had originally set out to pursue medicine, then switched to sociology, and ultimately landed on social work — a field that, interestingly, his daughter Katherine would one day enter professionally.
Encouraged by classmates and future comedy stars Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas, Short decided to try his hand as an entertainer. He made his debut as a professional stage actor in 1972 in a Toronto production of Godspell, which also featured Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, and Victor Garber, alongside musical director Paul Shaffer.
That production would change everything. It also introduced him to a young actress named Nancy Dolman — the woman who would become the love of his life.
The Rise of a Comedy Icon: SCTV, SNL, and Beyond
Short moved over to Saturday Night Live for the 1984–85 season, joining an all-star cast that included Christopher Guest, Billy Crystal, and Harry Shearer. His one season on SNL was a creative explosion. He brought with him characters already honed at SCTV — most notably Ed Grimley, the wide-eyed, gap-toothed, fervently enthusiastic everyman whose pompadour and trouser-hoisting became iconic.
His film career launched in earnest not long after. He starred in Three Amigos! (1986) alongside Steve Martin and Chevy Chase, played a frantic wedding coordinator in Father of the Bride (1991), and appeared in everything from Mars Attacks! to Innerspace to animated classics like The Prince of Egypt. On Broadway, he earned a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Little Me in 1999 and a nomination for The Goodbye Girl in 1993.
In recent years, Short found an entirely new generation of fans through his role as Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building on Hulu, starring alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. The show became a cultural phenomenon and reminded the world that Martin Short is not merely a legend of the past — he is a vital, irreplaceable creative force.
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Nancy Dolman: The Great Love of Martin Short’s Life
No story about Martin Short is complete without a deep and honest exploration of the woman he adored above all others: Nancy Dolman.
The pair struck up a relationship in 1974 and married on December 22, 1980. Nancy was herself an accomplished actress, appearing in Canadian television productions and stage work, and she was deeply embedded in the same comedy world where Martin thrived. They were, by all accounts, a perfect match — two warm, witty, deeply loving people who built a family and a life together with intention, laughter, and devotion.
Martin Short has spoken about Nancy Dolman with a tenderness that is rare in any relationship, let alone one lived largely in the public eye. In his touching memoir, he wrote: “Some nights, when I’m really missing her, I’ll grab a rum and Coke at twilight and sit on the couch on our front porch, or perhaps upstairs, on the balcony off of our bedroom, with the Pacific Ocean in view. I’ll call out, ‘Hey, Nan!’ Forming the words just feels good in the throat.”
Nancy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007 and fought the disease for three years. She passed away on August 21, 2010, after a courageous battle. She and Martin had been married for 30 years.
Her death was a wound that Martin has never pretended was healed. Instead, he has carried her memory with him openly, speaking about her often, honoring her name at charity events, and raising their children in the spirit she helped create. The Women’s Cancer Research Fund honored both Martin and Nancy following her passing.
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Martin Short’s Children: Katherine, Oliver, and Henry
Martin and Nancy built their family through adoption, welcoming three children who they raised in a home defined by love, laughter, and an insistence — as Martin has said publicly — that everyone simply like each other.
Martin Short and Nancy Dolman shared three children: daughter Katherine Hartley Short, born December 3, 1983; son Oliver Patrick Short, born in 1986; and son Henry Hayter Short, born in 1989.
Martin has spoken warmly and humorously about his children over the years. During a 2012 appearance on Conan, he joked: “None of them wanted to go into show business, and I pushed them. I wanted them to go into show business. I make them do laps in the morning and I go to the balcony with my coffee and say, ‘Quitter! Do it again!'”
In a more earnest moment, Short told CNN in a 2013 interview that he was inspired by his own childhood to make sure his children were always close to one another. “When you have kids you have to just set down this bottom line of what can’t happen,” he said. “I’ve done it in my house and my parents did it in their house which was: Everyone has to like each other and get along. And if you don’t, you’ll get the wrath of the parents.”
Katherine Short: Who Was She?
Of Martin Short’s three children, Katherine Hartley Short was the eldest — and by all accounts a woman of remarkable intelligence, compassion, and quiet purpose.
Unlike her famous father, Katherine deliberately chose a life away from the spotlight. She went into the field of mental health, pursuing a calling to help others that felt both deeply personal and profoundly meaningful.
Katherine Short earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender sexuality studies from New York University in 2006, and later earned her master’s in social work from USC.
Following her master’s program, Katherine worked at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital for four years, becoming an expert in crisis management, advocacy, connecting clients to resources, individual therapy, group psychotherapy, and supporting family members and loved ones of persons with severe mental illness or substance abuse. She went on to work at the Camden Center, a mental health clinic in West Los Angeles, before starting her own private practice.
Katherine was also a dedicated advocate beyond her clinical work. She was involved with the charity Bring Change 2 Mind, which works to spread awareness for mental health issues.
She had appeared over the years at various events alongside her father — at Broadway openings, Oscar after-parties, and charity benefits — but always as a private person standing beside someone she loved, never seeking the attention for herself.
Katherine Short’s Death: What Happened
On February 23, 2026, the world received devastating news. The Los Angeles Police Department and fire department responded to Katherine Short’s Hollywood Hills home at approximately 6:40 p.m. PT, where they found Katherine deceased. She was 42 years old.
Martin Short’s representative confirmed the news in a statement: “It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short. The Short family is devastated by this loss and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”
Katherine died by suicide. Law enforcement sources confirmed the cause of death.
The loss is staggering in its dimensions. Martin Short, who has already buried a brother, a mother, a father, and the wife he loved more than anything, now faces the unimaginable grief of losing his eldest child — a woman who spent her professional life helping others navigate the darkest corridors of the human mind.
Martin Short postponed upcoming comedy tour dates with Steve Martin following Katherine’s death. The shows, scheduled in Milwaukee and Minneapolis in the days immediately following, were pushed back as the family asked for privacy.
A Man Who Has Known Grief Like Few Others
Martin Short has often been asked how he maintains his optimism, his humor, his warmth, in the face of so much loss. His answer has always been the same: the losses made him choose differently. They made him decide that life is something to be lived as fully, as joyfully, and as generously as possible.
As he once told an interviewer: “I think that kind of loss can fuel how you lead your whole life. I’ve chosen to treat my life more like a party than something to stress about.”
That philosophy has never been a denial of grief. It has been a response to it — a conscious, daily decision to show up, to perform, to connect, to love. And it is precisely why so many people feel such a profound personal sadness in this moment. Because Martin Short has given so much of his life’s energy to making the world laugh, to carrying grief quietly while radiating joy loudly — and now he faces what is perhaps the heaviest burden of all.
Martin Short’s Legacy: Still Being Written
At 75 years old, Martin Short remains one of the most celebrated entertainers alive. His work on Only Murders in the Building has introduced him to younger audiences who are discovering, with delight, what older fans have always known. His friendship and creative partnership with Steve Martin is one of the great comedic alliances of modern entertainment. His Tony Award, his two Emmy Awards, his Order of Canada — these are the formal markers of a career that is, in truth, much larger than any award can measure.
But his greatest legacy may not be any single performance or accolade. It may be what he modeled for his children and for the world: that it is possible to love deeply, to lose terribly, and to keep going — not because the pain disappears, but because there are still people who need you, still stages to walk onto, still laughter to be made.
Katherine Hartley Short dedicated her life to helping people in their darkest moments. She was her father’s daughter in the deepest sense — not in the spotlight, but in the service of others.
May she rest in peace. And may her family find, in time, the same grace they have always shown the world.
If You Are Struggling
This story involves the topic of suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, please reach out for help. You are not alone.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 (US) Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 International Association for Suicide Prevention: https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
