Martin Short as Leonard Winstone | Damages on FX

Born in Ontario, Canada, Short began his career on Canada’s SCTV Comedy Network, where his work garnered an Emmy® Award. Short’s proven ability as a comedic chameleon and his host of hilarious impressions brought him to the attention of Saturday Night Live.

After only one season, Short was instantly recognized for his standout performances and on-the-mark impressions of such characters as Ed Grimly, Jackie Rogers Jr., legendary songwriter Irving Cohen and lawyer Nathan Thurm. With the tremendous exposure he gained on Saturday Night Live, he was on the Hollywood fast track and quickly crossed over into feature film work.

Short made his big screen debut in Three Amigos, where he worked alongside former Saturday Night Live colleagues Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. Over the years he has continued to land plum comedic roles in theatrical releases such as Inner Space, Three Fugitives, Clifford, Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks, Jungle 2 Jungle and The Big Picture, among others. Perhaps his most memorable role was that of the scene-stealing ‘Franck,’ the wedding planner in Father of the Bride. He later reprised the hilarious portrayal for Father of the Bride II.

Not limiting himself to acting, Short has also written, produced and starred in three highly acclaimed comedy specials for television. For these efforts, which included Martin Short’s Concert for the North Americas, for Showtime; I Martin Short, Goes Hollywood; for NBC; and The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show, for NBC, he won two Cable Ace awards and an Emmy Award, respectively. Short’s work in television also includes his co-starring, Emmy-nominated role in the NBC mini-series Merlin, one of the highest- rated programs in the network’s history. And following that he co-starred in the critically acclaimed Alice in Wonderland, for NBC as the ‘Mad Hatter.’

A veteran of the theater in Canada and on Broadway, Short has received accolades for his varied work on stage, earning a Tony Award® nomination, a Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award for the 1993 Broadway production of The Goodbye Girl. He also won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his work in the Neil Simon/Colemon Broadway production of Little Me. In addition, he starred in Lawrence Kasdan’s Four Dogs and a Bone at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.

In the fall of ’99, Short brought his comedic and musical talents, versatility and improvisational genius to the television genre when he hosted King World’s daily one-hour talk/variety entertainment program, The Martin Short Show. The show garnered seven Emmy nominations, two of which were for Best Show and Best Host.

In 2001, Short created and starred in Primetime Glick for Comedy Central. ‘Jiminy Glick’ was a fictitious character, a “Hollywood legend and celebrity interviewer” he derived from The Martin Short Show. In its third and final season, the show garnered an Emmy nomination for Best Performer in a Musical, Comedy or Variety Show.

In 2003, Short starred in Mel Brooks’ critically acclaimed The Producers with Jason Alexander at The Pantages Theater. In May 2005, Short starred in Jiminy Glick in La La Wood, which he also wrote. Gold Circle Films produced. In August 2006, Short opened in Broadway in his critically acclaimed musical-comedy Fame Becomes Me. In November 2006, Martin starred as Jack Frost in Disney’s Santa Claus 3: The Escape Clause with Tim Allen. And, most recently, Short can be heard as the voice of ‘Thimbletack’ in Paramount’s The Spiderwick Chronicles, a children’s fantasy film based on the children’s book of the same name.

Short’s incredible career has been recognized by the public and critics alike, and by his Canadian homeland. In 1994, Short was awarded the Order of Canada (The Canadian equivalent to British Knighthood) for his contribution to Canadian culture and was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame in June 2000.