Corrinne clegg hales biography of martin short

Despite making a career out of laughter, Martin, who was born on March 16, , in Hamilton, Ontario, had precious little to smile about during his early years. By the time he was 20, he had already lost three family members.

Corrinne Clegg Hales’ books include To Make it Right (Autumn House Press, ), winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize.

The eldest of his five siblings, David, died in a car accident in when Martin was just Then when he was 17, his mother Olive, a child violin prodigy who became concert master for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, passed away from cancer. Two years later his father Charles followed. But rather than drag him into depression, the tragic events made Martin decide to live to the full.

At McMaster University he started as a pre-med student, before switching to social work, but at the same time he was bitten by the acting bug and appeared in many college productions. It was during that production that he met his future wife, comic actress Nancy Dolman - the understudy for Gilda Radner, who Martin had also dated.

Who is Martin Short?

The pair struck up a relationship in and married in They have three children together: Katherine, who they welcomed in ; Oliver, who followed three years later; and Henry, born in A few years earlier he had been persuaded by his Godspell co-stars Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas to pursue comedy, joining them at the famous improv troupe The Second City in During that time Martin developed many of his now-famous characters, including talk-show host Brock Linehan, based on Canadian interviewer Brian Linehan; albino entertainer Jackie Rogers Jr; current events commentator Troy Soren; shady attorney Nathan Thurm; Wheel of Fortune fan Ed Grimley, perhaps his best known creation; and Jiminy Glick.

These characters would prove even more popular when he introduced them to the season of Saturday Night Live , his addition to the show's line-up helping revive it after the departure of Eddie Murphy. An incredible mimic, Martin also drew attention for his uncanny impersonations on the programme, notably of Jerry Lewis and Katharine Hepburn. Martin continued to work in theatre during the Nineties, starring in the musical The Goodbye Girl and in put in a Tony Award-winning performance as the lead in the musical revival of Little Me.

In he launched his satirical one-man show with a full cast of six called Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me , which closed in January Martin's wife Nancy tragically passed away in after battling ovarian cancer.