Martin Short is not one to shy away from playing eccentric and flamboyant characters, from the queeny wedding planner Franck in the 1991 rom-com Father of the Bride to his latest role as the ever-so-stylish but struggling Broadway director-turned-true-crime-podcaster Oliver in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
As such, it’s easy to see why Martin Short is often mistaken for as gay. Here, we take a look at some of Short’s most iconic queer-coded characters and whether the actor actually identifies with them.
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Who Is Martin Short?
Martin Short is a veteran comedian and actor who made a name for himself creating timeless characters for sketch shows like Second City Television (SCTV) and Saturday Night Live.
Improv Beginnings
Short joined the cast of SCTV in 1982 after years of working with The Second City’s improv troupe in Toronto, Canada. At SCTV, Short created notable characters like aging songwriter Irving Cohen and lovable weirdo Ed Grimley – the latter of which he carried over to Saturday Night Live where he was a cast member from 1984 to 1985.
SNL
Despite his brief stint at Saturday Night Live, Short is often credited as one of the cast members who helped revive the show following Eddie Murphy’s departure in 1984. The Ed Grimley character was so popular that by the time he left SNL, he got an offer to turn it into a character for the animated show The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley – making Grimley the only SCTV and SNL character to have a stand-alone cartoon.
Other Film & TV
As with many successful comedians, SNL helped launch Short’s career in TV and film. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Short appeared in countless comedies, including movies like Three Amigos, Innerspace, Mars Attacks! and shows like The Martin Short Show and Primetime Glick.
Short’s Career Today
Today, Short remains one of the funniest guys in Hollywood. He currently stars in Hulu’s murder mystery-comedy Only Murders in the Building alongside long-time friend and frequent collaborator Steve Martin, as well as actress and singer Selena Gomez.
Is Martin Short Gay?
With his arsenal of eccentric and flamboyant characters, it’s easy to see why Martin Short is often mistaken for as gay.
In his latest show Only Murders, Short plays Oliver, a once-successful Broadway director who, constantly adorned in printed robes and scarves, is perhaps the most perfect portrayal of a queer-coded Broadway director there ever was.
The show’s creator, John Hoffman, hasn’t really confirmed whether Oliver is actually gay, but he did say that as a theater major, he based the character off of the many Olivers – some gay, some not – that he met at school.
“[Oliver] has lived many years. Will we touch on various stories of Oliver that will not surprise us – relationships he’s had? I wouldn’t close the door on that,” Hoffman added.
Another queer-coded character that Short is well-known for playing is Franck, the fabooloos wedding planner who leaves Steve Martin’s character bemused and befuddled by his thick German accent in Father of the Bride. Who can forget the way an excited Franck goes “Helloooooo”?
Yet the ironic thing about the Franck character is that Short never intended to play him gay. In an interview with Pride Source, Short explained, “My eye goes to unusual behavior or heightened behavior or eccentric behavior or just funny behavior.”
However, playing an array of fabulous and queer(-coded) characters and actually identifying as gay (or bi) are two different things. He is an actor after all. So, is Martin Short bi or gay?
No evidence conclusively points to Martin Short being bi or gay. He was married to comedian and singer Nancy Dolman for 30 years before she passed away from ovarian cancer in 2010. Prior to his marriage, he also dated actress and SNL alum, Gilda Radner, on and off for about two years.
We do acknowledge that just because someone has been married to women in the past, it doesn’t automatically mean they can’t be gay or bi. However, Short has made no mention of any past relationships with men, so any assumptions about his sexuality are mere speculation at this point. Plus, he’s also mentioned once that he’s got terrible gaydar!
“It’s often very hard to figure out who’s gay,” said Short in the Pride Source interview. “I’ve met really effeminate people who are surprisingly sincerely straight. And then the opposite.”
The Bottom Line
Take it from Short – just because someone is effeminate or plays gay or queer-coded characters, it doesn’t mean they’re gay. After all, gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression are all independent of one another. At the end of the day, Short is an amazing comedic actor who knows how to tap into what makes a character funny – gay, straight, or otherwise.
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