Martin Short is opening up about his years of personal loss while leaning into humor in a new documentary, titled Martin, Life is Short, set to premiere on May 12.
The teaser, unveiled on May 1, starts with Steve Martin praising Short’s comedic skills, sharing that a party isn’t complete if Short isn’t in attendance. Even the late Catherine O’Hara is there, saying of Martin Short:
“I feel like he could improvise to eternity, couldn’t he?”
For fellow comedian Eugene Levy, Martin Short is the best in the industry, showering him with praise:
“There’s nobody faster. There’s nobody smarter. There’s nobody funnier.”
The Jiminy Glick in Lalawood star, on the other hand, feels grateful for his career, calling himself “lucky.”
“I’m in the greatest profession in the world. I’m so d**n lucky. How do I keep it going?”
Meanwhile, in the trailer, Martin Short talks about the role of his grief in molding his life, especially the recurrent losses that have occurred to his family. This is evident when he starts speaking of his childhood home after mentioning the loss of his parents.
“Mom died and dad’s health went fast. And I just was overwhelmed with, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it. I can’t do it.'”
The Only Murders in the Building star has been vocal about the many things that he has lost in life. In the clip, where he’s chatting with his brother Michael, he says that they “had speed dial to the funeral parlor,” followed by:
“There were laughs during those years.… that’s the point. In life, sometimes you hit a green light. And sometimes, for no reason, it’s red.”
Martin Short’s personal losses
In 1962, when he was only 12, his oldest brother, David, died in a car accident.
At 17, his mother, Olive Grace, a concertmistress at the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra, passed away due to cancer. Two years later, in 1970, his father, a corporate executive from a steel company, died of a stroke.
Martin Short was orphaned at the age of 20. In an interview with The Guardian in 2012, he shared:
“I think the reason all that didn’t throw me sideways was because I had such a solid foundation. Those kinds of situations are horrible but I think that you are either empowered by them or you become a victim of them.”
Life went on for the comedian, and then he married comedian and actress Nancy Dolman in 1980. Five years into their marriage, she left her showbiz career and became a full-time housewife to care for their three adopted children: Katherine, Oliver, and Henry.
Sadly, Nancy passed away in 2010 due to natural causes after a battle with ovarian cancer. She was 58.
Last February, their daughter Katherine, 42, passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot in her Los Angeles home. A note was also found at the scene.
She was the eldest of three children.
Edited by Gladys Altamarino