Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#762
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Martin Short represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 40 years in, and Martin is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Martin Short appears in 28 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Martin. The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU is the clearest case: a film rated 9.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for documentary, comedy, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Morgan Neville, Lawrence Kasdan, Colin Hanks and others, Martin Short helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU (2020) as (archive footage) · Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (2023) as Self - Guest · Marty, Life Is Short (2026) as Self
Career snapshot
Ranked #762 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
28
1986–2026
Career length
40 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
9.7
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
9.7
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Most frequent director
Tim Burton
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Tim Burton
Most common genre
Comedy
15 titles
Average runtime
1h 37m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.8
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.6 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. The Addams Family, Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times", Elliot: The Littlest Reindeer — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.6
Across 7 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.6
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. ¡Three Amigos!.
Most productive era
2020s
12 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 7.31 film | 6.71 film | 6.92 films | 5.51 film |
| Action | 6.41 film | — | — | — | 6.71 film |
| Comedy | 6.41 film | 6.12 films | 5.82 films | 6.76 films | 3.54 films |
| Romance | — | — | 5.61 film | 7.31 film | 6.81 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1986¡Three Amigos!
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Ned Nederlander.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2020The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 9.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2026You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution...
The current state of the argument, as Self / Jeffrey.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
28 of 28 films
as (archive footage)
Directed by Brad Lachman
as Self - Guest
Directed by Paul Miller
as B.E.N. (voice)
Directed by John Musker
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
(archive footage)
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU (2020)
Performance score9.2
The performance the rest of the career is read through. (archive footage) gives Martin Short a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self
Marty, Life Is Short (2026)
Performance score8.5
Marty, Life Is Short asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Self - Guest
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (2023)
Performance score8.0
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self - Guest is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Self - Actor, SCTV
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
Performance score7.9
John Candy: I Like Me asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self - Actor, SCTV is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as (archive footage)
Start here. The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU is the clearest statement of what Martin Short does — accessible, 42 minutes, and rated 9.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Martin at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Treasure Planet (2002)
A deliberate change of key after The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love (2023)
A deliberate change of key after Treasure Planet — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
Keeps the documentary register of Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love but asks for a colder reading of it.
Marty, Life Is Short (2026)
Keeps the documentary register of John Candy: I Like Me but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Tim Burton
Director
2 films together
Notably Frankenweenie
John Landis
Director
1 film together
Notably ¡Three Amigos!
Brenda Chapman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Prince of Egypt
Nick Willing
Director
1 film together
Notably Alice in Wonderland
John A. Davis
Director
1 film together
Notably Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Tommy O'Haver
Director
1 film together
Notably Get Over It
John Musker
Director
1 film together
Notably Treasure Planet
Mark Waters
Director
1 film together
Notably The Spiderwick Chronicles
Eric Darnell
Director
1 film together
Notably Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
Paul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably Inherent Vice
Kenny Leon
Director
1 film together
Notably Hairspray Live!
Andy Fisher
Director
1 film together
Notably Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"
Conrad Vernon
Director
1 film together
Notably The Addams Family
Brad Lachman
Director
1 film together
Notably The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Katie Aselton
Director
1 film together
Notably Mack & Rita
Paul Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love
Russell Norman
Director
1 film together
Notably Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
James Wan
Director
1 film together
Notably Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Brent Hodge
Director
1 film together
Notably Downey Wrote That
Colin Hanks
Director
1 film together
Notably John Candy: I Like Me
Lawrence Kasdan
Director
1 film together
Notably Marty, Life Is Short
Morgan Neville
Director
1 film together
Notably Lorne
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Tim Burton
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
FrankenweenieBrad Lachman
Director
1 film together · 9.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVUPaul Miller
Director
1 film together · 8.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + LoveLawrence Kasdan
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Marty, Life Is ShortColin Hanks
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
John Candy: I Like MeJohn Musker
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Treasure PlanetKenny Leon
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hairspray Live!Brenda Chapman
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Prince of EgyptRussell Norman
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of MagicMorgan Neville
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LorneJames Wan
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Aquaman and the Lost KingdomEric Darnell
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedMark Waters
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Spiderwick ChroniclesConrad Vernon
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Addams FamilyPaul Thomas Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Inherent ViceJohn Landis
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
¡Three Amigos!Nick Willing
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Alice in WonderlandAndy Fisher
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: "All in the Family" and "Good Times"John A. Davis
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Jimmy Neutron: Boy GeniusTommy O'Haver
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Get Over ItKatie Aselton
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mack & RitaBrent Hodge
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Downey Wrote ThatSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Hairspray Live!
as Wilbur Turnblad
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Martin Short has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
40 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
15 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
as Self
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Inherent Vice
as Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S.
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
as (archive footage)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
¡Three Amigos!
as Ned Nederlander
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Hairspray Live!
as Wilbur Turnblad
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
as Kingfish (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Wilkinson
Built a career in the same territory: comedy and adventure
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
Which Martin Short performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
