Martin Short Documentary “Marty, Life Is Short” Competes for Emmy Awards

Martin Short has built a career on range, resilience and timing, and Lawrence Kasdan’s new documentary, Marty, Life Is Short, aims to capture all of it. The film, which is in Emmy contention for Netflix, is Kasdan’s first nonfiction feature and serves as a portrait of the 76-year-old performer whose popularity has surged in recent years. Kasdan, a longtime friend of Short’s, says he wanted audiences to see what it is like to spend time with him and suggests that Short’s warmth, sharpness and quick wit set him apart from most show business figures.

Kasdan and Short first met in 1987 during the making of Cross My Heart, when Kasdan tried to cast Short in the film’s lead role. Their friendship endured through professional challenges and personal milestones, and Kasdan says Short’s intelligence and kindness were immediately evident. The documentary traces Short’s life from his upbringing in Hamilton, Ontario, where he was the youngest of five children and began performing at a young age. By his teens, he was already imitating Frank Sinatra, and in his early 20s he was part of the influential 1972 Toronto stage production of Godspell alongside future comedy and acting stars such as Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber, Dave Thomas and Gilda Radner.

Short’s early television breakthrough came on SCTV, where he created memorable characters such as Ed Grimley. He later joined Saturday Night Live in the mid-1980s, though he stayed only one season, finding the workload not to his liking. Film followed, including ¡Three Amigos!, Innerspace and Cross My Heart, but those projects did not turn him into an immediate box-office star. Even so, Short remained remarkably steady through setbacks. In the documentary, he describes his career as “80 percent failure,” a line that reflects both his self-awareness and his ability to keep moving forward.

Kasdan sees resilience as one of Short’s defining traits. That quality also matters in the context of Short’s personal life, which has included devastating losses. His brother David died in a car accident when Short was 12. His mother died of cancer when he was 18, and his father died two years later. Later, his wife, singer-actress Nancy Dolman, died of ovarian cancer. More recently, Short’s daughter Katherine died by suicide at age 42. The documentary acknowledges that heartbreak while still celebrating the joy and humor Short has brought to audiences for decades.

The film includes appearances from many of Short’s close friends and collaborators, among them Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Paul Shaffer, John Mulaney, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. It also highlights one of Short’s most beloved comic creations, Jiminy Glick, whose rapid-fire absurdity has become a showcase for his improvisational brilliance.

Now, with Only Murders in the Building, Short has found a new wave of mainstream success, earning renewed acclaim alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. Kasdan says audiences have simply taken longer than expected to fully appreciate Short, whose talent, he argues, has always been there.