Inside Martin Short's Family Life After His Daughter's Suicide: Meet His Late Wife Nancy Dolman and Their 3 Children

Martin Short's family life has been shaped by love and loss.

The Little Me actor met the woman he would marry, Nancy Dolman, while working on the play Godspell in 1972. He was still dating and living with Saturday Night Live cast member Gilda Radner at the time, though the two eventually split.

Short revealed in his memoir I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend that he fell in love with Dolman at first sight. The day after his relationship with Radner ended, he bumped into Dolman at a restaurant and asked her out on a tennis date even though he thought she was "out of [his] league."

"It was fast," he said of his courtship with Dolman during an appearance on "Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson & Woody Harrelson" podcast. "One day, I was single. That's crazy."

The pair exchanged vows in a wedding ceremony on December 22, 1980.

The Only Murders in the Building star and his late wife welcomed three children via adoption: Katherine Elizabeth Short, Oliver Patrick Short and Henry Hayter Short.

During the same podcast appearance in 2025, Martin reflected on his life being a father and a grandfather.

"I now have three grandsons," he told the podcast hosts. "Theo will be four in January. And then Grayson is two and four months, and Campbell just turned two. It's so amazing. It is unbelievable. I don't know, 12 years ago, whatever. I was 63 or something, I was just starting to get a smidge grumpy about aging. Just, you know, I'm not crazy about this arthritis or whatever was sitting in. And then the first grandchild arrives, and it's like, oh, f--- it, I'm in."

Describing the whole experience as "magical," Martin continued, "They love you, these grandkids. And you do get to hand them back. That's a cliche, but it is true. You don't have to be on the front lines as much. When you're in it as a father, as a parent, it's just too immediate to have any distance. You can love your kids through the roof, but there's something different and wonderful."

On August 21, 2010, Martin's wife of 30 years died after a three-year battle with cancer. She was 58.

The Captain Ron actor discussed how he and his children said goodbye to the beloved matriarch during a 2014 appearance on Meredith Vieira's daytime talk show.

"[Nancy] had once said to me, 'I don't want a funeral, and I don't want a memorial. Throw a party, or not.' She just was so irritated that she was losing this battle, she didn't want to think about it," the father-of-three shared.

He later laid Nancy to rest by scattering her ashes in a lake near the family's cottage in Canada.

"I just followed her wishes. We went up, we had a party with about 30 close friends and family. She was cremated. The kids and I went into a boat, we sprinkled the ashes into the water, and we jumped into the ashes," he continued.

In a cover story with AARP in 2019, the Three Amigos star said their marriage "was a triumph."

"So it's tough. She died in 2010, but I still communicate with her all the time. It's 'Hey Nan,' you know?" he admitted. "How would she react to this decision or that, especially regarding our three kids."

Even after Nancy's death, Martin reportedly still feels his late wife's presence around him.

"I believe that when people die, they zoom into the people that love them," he added. "The idea that it just ends, and don't speak of them — that's wrong….to me, she's still here."

Martin remains a subject of ongoing dating rumors involving his Only Murders in the Building costar Meryl Streep.

A source said in March 2025 they had been dating "for well over a year."

"Meryl couldn't help but fall for Martin," the insider claimed. "He is a gentleman, he keeps her laughing and is an all around positive person. She loves being around him."

They added, "[Martin and Meryl were] looking for a relationship when they started dating… [Their] friends and family, including their kids, absolutely approve of their relationship and think they're adorable together."

Despite speculation, neither has confirmed a relationship.