Martin Short

An astonishingly energetic comedic player in film and on television for over three decades, the ever-youthful looking Martin Short floored audiences with his livewire performances on the legendary Canadian sitcom "SCTV" (Global/CBC/NBC, 1976-1984) before becoming an international star thanks to "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ), "Three Amigos!" (1986), and "Primetime Glick" (Comedy Central, 2001-03). Short's most memorable characters - the manic Ed Grimley; the obese, obtuse Jiminy Glick - burst out of the screen with a volcanic energy that was riveting to watch and even harder to contain in formulaic Hollywood comedies. Television and the stage were his best showcases; the perfect environment for his improvisational skills to be unleashed to their fullest potential. An Emmy-nominated shift towards the dramatic in the third season of the popular series "Damages" (FX, 2007-12) showed that Short's versatility was apparently limitless, and the admiration for and accolades showered on his talents were richly deserved.