Martin Short’s 10 Favorite Roles — And The Tragic Losses That Made Him A Star

Comedian Martin Short suffered a lot of tragedy on the road to becoming a star. “I lost my brother when I was 12, my mother at 17, and my father at 20,” says the actor, who’s originally from Canada. “You either go up or down from those. And if you go up, you’re empowered for the rest of your life.” More recently, Martin’s beloved wife of 30 years, Nancy, died in 2010.

Here are Martin’s 10 favorite roles and what the 75-year-old actor says they mean to him.

The Associates (1979)

Landing his first law firm set sitcom shortly after landing in Los Angeles, “It was a joy to do, with great writing and a great cast. We thought we were going to be the biggest hit … and we were off after five shows!”

SCTV (1982)

Asked to go back to Toronto and join “Second City Television,” “I had to think about it for like zero seconds.” One of his characters was a lounge singer so weird “he made the cast and crew go, ‘Eww!’ I was, at 32, finally able to give the world the Full Marty.”

SNL (1984)

Even with “SCTV” fave Ed Grimley and friends such as Billy Crystal keeping him company, “I wish I’d enjoyed ‘Saturday Night Live’ more. I went through a fraught, tough few weeks near the beginning. I had a one-year contract, so I was treating every show like a special.”

Three Amigos! (1986)

Costarring with Chevy Chase and Steve Martin: “We got along instantly.” But his friendship with Steve was special. “In this case, I made a conscientious decision that no, I didn’t want to lose this guy in my life.”

Father of the Bride (1991)

The secret behind making his eccentric wedding planner Franck so memorable “is you can’t try to be funny, even though he’s eccentric and odd and strange. If it looks like I’m trying to be funny, it wouldn’t be funny. You have to be sincere within the madness of it all.”

Little Me (1998)

Of all his projects, Martin is most proud of His Tony-winning turn in Neil Simon’s “Little Me.” “I learned a long time ago my roles had to be ones that were on my side. I tend to be generous of myself. I will watch something I did and say, “That was pretty good.'”

Primetime Glick (2001)

As funny as Marin may think his clueless celeb reporter Jiminy Glick was, “What makes me laugh more about what Jiminy says is how he’s a moron with power.”

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (2010)

Voicing the famed feline: “He is magical and comes from the imagination of children. I wanted to combine enthusiasm and warmth with almost a childlike approach of how children would like to hear him exist in their fantasy world.”

Maya & Marty (2016)

On his short-lived variety show with fellow “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph: “I continue to go with my instinct of what I think is funny. I continue to make a living. That’s all that really matters. I’m not a big believer in shelf life.”

Only Murders in the Building (2021)

He teams up again with Steve Martin, but it’s costar Selena Gomez who really kills him because she’s “a little more timeless. It’s amazing that people 40 years apart in age can be friends. We’re just three people who really dig each other.”