Martin Short through the years: his life in photographs

Martijn Kort is one of the most iconic comedians of all time, but he almost ended up on a completely different career path.

Short grew up in Ontario, Canada and was the youngest of five children, with three older brothers, David, Michael and Brian, and an older sister, Nora. He originally studied to be a doctor, but switched to social work and earned a bachelor's degree from McMaster University.

“About two years into college, I realized that… I didn't like science,” Short said in an interview with Charlie Rose in 2006. “I was doing theater all the time. And after four years of college, I thought I would take a year off and try to work as an actor in Toronto.”

After participating Second City Television (SCTV)Short earned his first Emmy Award in 1983 for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program. His brother Michael spent time with him SCTV also and is a comedy sketch writer with three Emmy wins to his name.

In 2010 Short lost his wife, Nancy Dolmanfrom ovarian cancer after 30 years of marriage.

“I believe that when people die, they zoom in on the people who love them,” Short said AARP The Magazine in 2019. “This idea that it just ends and you don't talk about it – that's wrong. That is based on the denial that we will all die. So for me she is still there.”

Among Short's most notable projects are those from 1991 Father of the bride and its 1995 sequel, his talk show The Martin Short Show and the Hulu series Only murders in the buildingthe latter of which earned him Emmy nominations for acting and producing.

Keep scrolling to see Short's career timeline: