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Show The comic MARTIN SHORT suffered a series of tragedies as a young man,with the loss of both parents and a beloved olderbrother. But he realized his parents gave him gifts no one could take away. ‘When You're Funny, You're Blessed... 4 VERYTHING’S A CHOICE in life, and I wasnot drawn I visited Short at his home in Los Angelesto learn how hehad dealt with study, a spacious room crowded with photosoffamily,friends and colleagues sucha position. His brother Michaelis an Emmy-winning comedy writer, and a comicactor and howhe succeeded. Short lives with his wife, Nancy, and their children, Katherine, 16, Oliver, 13, and Henry, 9,in a pretty house onthe palisades above the ocean. We metin his movies. On his bookshelves are carefully preserved reels of audiotape containing the pretend talk shows he produced as a teenagerin his bedroom. “T was thechild of a very funny family,”he recalled. “There was lots ofhumor in our house. My father was hysterical. He came presidentof Dover Industries. Hissister; Nora, is an anesthesiologist. T asked Short aboutthe pretendtalkj showshe did as a kid. “It was very elab orate,” he told me.“I'd do a Sinatra record, then I'd sing a duetwith him. Then I'dstop the tape, get my applausd record, play that and then say, “We'll be from Ireland when he y brother Michael was convince I was sniffing glue,” he continued, to being a victim,” Martin early adversity, why he chose to become from Saturday Night Live and his Brian,his other living brother, is vicq Short said. “I know that show businessattracts people whoare in pain,butI am notthe clownin the makeup masking thepain.It doesn’t happen to be mystory.” Last year Martin Short, one of our most gifted com- 3] ic performers, won Tonyas best actor in a musical for the Broadway revival ofLittle Me, received raves as The Mad Hatter in NBC’s Alice in Wonderland andap- “1 AM NOT the clown in the on makeup masking the pain.It doesn’t happen to be my story.” peared in a new movie, Mumford. In September, he began The Martin Short Show, his own syndi- Martin Short’s lormance cated TV talk show. “[ trulybelieve that when you're funny, Scan you're blessed,” Short said. “Your wholelife is kind of golden.I was happy,although it was not perfect happiness. There was illness and sadness and death.” Martin Short, 49, grew upin Hamilton, Ontario, the youngestofthree brothers | anda sister ina tightly knit Irish-Catholic family. When he was young,a series of eating \ in the revival of Little Me won him the Tony Award for best actor ina musical Aca was about21 andstart- ed workingin sales. He laughing.“Hesaid to myparents, ‘This married my mother in 1935. She was a musician, a child prodigy, winning medals when she was 4.” Martin Short’s father, Charles, was an executive with Canada’slargeststeel company, while his mother, Olive, was a violinist and concert master of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the first woman in North America to hold 1984 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 1986 iTHREE AMIGOS! ous isn’t normal!’ But no onein my famil; truthfully thought that whatI did was goofy. They thought, “That’s Marty. That's whathe does.It’s his hobby.’” Martin Short is a wiry man, feet 8, with quick, expressive eyes. When he talks, he is very animated, mimickingthe people he refers to,all the while gaugin; your appreciation of his antics. Despite! his bouncy physical energy and his lovel oftalk, there is a tension betweenself- 1987 INNERSPACE | tragedies befell his family, beginning with || the death of his older brother David in a car crash. Then his mother contracted | | cancer, succumbingfive years later, when Martin wasa seniorin high school. Two years after that, his father died of a stroke. COVER PHOTOGRAPHBY JAMES SORENSEN PAGE 4 - JANUARY 23, 2000 - PARADE MAGAZINE |
