1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 2: Martin Short opens up about love, loss, and finding joy 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,919 Speaker 2: through life's hardest moments. Written by Julie Provost, read by 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 2: Julie Provost. We know him from Three Amigos, Father of 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 2: the Bride and This comedy Sketches and more recently only 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 2: Murders in the Building, But the actor and comedian Martin 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 2: Short has been through a lot in his seventy six 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 2: years and still faces it with joy. Cbas Sunday Morning 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 2: sat down with Martin Short to talk about his life, 14 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 2: his losses, and his new documentary, Marty Life Is Short, 15 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 2: which is now streaming on Netflix. The documentary, which is 16 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 2: now streaming on Netflix, is a look into his life 17 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 2: from his fifty year plus career making us Live to 18 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 2: his love, friendship and family. The youngest of five children, 19 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: Martin Short grew up in Ontario, Canada, and was only 20 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 2: twelve years old when his older brother David died in 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 2: a car accident. His mother passed away from cancer when 22 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 2: she was seventeen, and his father when he was twenty 23 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 2: due to complications from a stroke. These losses shaped the 24 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 2: actors teen and young adult years. Interviewer Tracy Smith asked 25 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 2: Martin short, what did that teach you about grief and loss? 26 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 2: Martin responds, what it developed in me was the muscle 27 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 2: of survival in handling grief and a perspective on it. 28 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 2: Then he went on to say that it also gave 29 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 2: him bravery when getting on stage. If you've gone through that, 30 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 2: an audience not liking you is really not that important anymore. 31 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 2: When his father passed, he realized he knew something about life, 32 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 2: something a lot of people don't learn until they're much older. 33 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 2: I knew it at twenty, about love and importance of 34 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 2: keeping these people alive. He shares. When he met Nancy 35 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 2: four years after his father's death, she knew all about 36 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 2: them based on how he kept their memories alive. Originally, 37 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 2: Martin was going to go into social work, but before 38 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 2: he graduated from university, he decided to give acting a 39 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 2: tree al right. He got his first gig in nineteen 40 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 2: seventy two, at around twenty two years old, playing a 41 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 2: credit card in a Chargemax commercial. In nineteen seventy seven, 42 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 2: he joined Second City in Toronto and appeared on SCTV 43 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 2: in the early nineteen eighties, joining Say Live in nineteen 44 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 2: eighty four. One of his first movies was Three Magos 45 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,839 Speaker 2: with Chevy Chase and Stave Martin in nineteen eighty six. 46 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 2: Who's also in Father of the Bride in nineteen ninety one, 47 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 2: as well as a sequel in nineteen ninety five. More recently, 48 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 2: he got back together with Steve Martin for the Hulu 49 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 2: sho Only Murders in the Building with Celine and Gelmans. 50 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 2: As he has progressed in his fifty year plus career, 51 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 2: he has made friends with others who have found great 52 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 2: success in the entertainment industry. Katherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, and 53 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 2: Tom Hanks are just a few of the many who 54 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 2: appear frequently in his documentary. It's clear that friendship is 55 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 2: also really important to him. Martin married actress and singer 56 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 2: Nancy Dolan in nineteen eighty after they met in nineteen 57 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 2: seventy two during the Toronto production of Godspell. The two 58 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 2: adopted three children, Katherine, Oliver and Henry and had a 59 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 2: happy family life his career successes over the years, he 60 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 2: has also experienced even more heartbreaking losses. Nancy was diagnosed 61 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 2: with a varian cancer in two thousand and seven and 62 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 2: passed away in twenty ten, and his daughter Catherine, passed 63 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 2: away from suicide in February of twenty twenty six at 64 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 2: the age of forty two. In the documentary Marty Life 65 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 2: Is Short, Tom Hanks says, Marty operates at the speed 66 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 2: of joy, and it's so true. I think I do 67 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 2: have the happy gene, and I think my orientation is 68 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 2: to be happy, he said in a response to the 69 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 2: quote Tracy and asked Martin how he managed to choose 70 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 2: joy even after losing his wife Nancy. Well, you don't 71 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 2: rite away, but you have children to raise, which I did. 72 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 2: This was fifteen years ago, he says. He shares that 73 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 2: he has an understanding of the end of life from 74 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 2: his childhood, but just to think of them, he says, 75 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 2: of those he had lost, they have gone into the 76 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 2: next room for a while. The documentary is dedicated to 77 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 2: two people, the actress and best friend of Martin Short, 78 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 2: Catherine O'Hara, who passed away on January thirtieth, twenty twenty six, 79 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 2: and his daughter Catherine. It's been a night more for 80 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 2: the family. Martin shares about Catherine's loss, but the understanding 81 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 2: that mental health and creacre, like my wife, are both diseases. 82 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 2: They are terminal. He shares with a serious tone. My 83 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 2: daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health, 84 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 2: borderline personality disorder, and other things, and did the best 85 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 2: she could until she couldn't. Martin is also involved with 86 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 2: gun Clos's organization Bring Change to Mind, which encourages talking 87 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 2: about mental health so important for our world today. The 88 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 2: actor also shared that since October of last year, he 89 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 2: has lost many people important to him, including friends like 90 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 2: Catherine O'Hare and his daughter. How do you even wrap 91 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 2: your mind around that, Tracy asks, you can't. You just 92 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 2: have to breathe in, breathe out, He says. Although we 93 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 2: heartbreak in our lives, just as Martin Short has experienced, 94 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 2: there can also be joy, As Psalm thirty five states, 95 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 2: weeping may endure for a night, but joy come within 96 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 2: the morning. There's an important thing to remember as we 97 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 2: walk through this life. Many prayers and blessings to Martin 98 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 2: Short and his family. Authors note if you or someone 99 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,559 Speaker 2: you know is experiencing a crisis and needs immediate help. 100 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 2: Call our text nine eight eight, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. 101 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 2: If possible, go to the nearest emergency room or call 102 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 2: nine one one for Urgina System. California couple celebrates their 103 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 2: eightieth anniversary after meeting as teenagers. Written by Heather Riggomann 104 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 2: read budgely Provost, Californy couple subli rates their eightieth anniversary 105 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 2: after meeting as teenagers. This is the type of love 106 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 2: story we all long for, and I hope to grow 107 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 2: old with my hobby the way Jennifer and Mel diad. 108 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 2: At one hundred and one years old, Jennifer McMullen still 109 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 2: remembers the beginning of her love story like it was yesterday, 110 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,840 Speaker 2: which we can't help but share. Inside a retirement community 111 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 2: in Whittier, California, surrounded by family, friends, and neighbors who 112 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 2: clearly adored them, Mel McCullen and Jennifer McCollen celebrated something 113 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 2: few people ever get to hold in their hands, eighty 114 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 2: years of marriage. There's something tender about that kind of love. 115 00:05:54,800 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 2: The kindness survives wars, wrinkles, loss, laughter, and ordinary Tuesday mornings, 116 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 2: Jennifer sat beside her husband as loved ones honored the 117 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 2: life they built together. Mao, who also turned one hundred 118 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 2: and one in June, looked back on the love story 119 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 2: that began when they were just teenagers in Los Angeles, California. 120 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 2: I was born in nineteen twenty five and she was 121 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 2: born in nineteen twenty four. Mel said their story was 122 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 2: stitched into history long before anniversary cakes and celebration songs. 123 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 2: It began after Mel served as a B twenty four 124 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,160 Speaker 2: gunner in the Army Air Corps during World War II. 125 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 2: She then returned home. Jennifer had been working at Lockheed 126 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 2: during the war, helping support secret military aviation projects as 127 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 2: part of the Wartime Warforce. He can almost picture what 128 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 2: it was like in their day and age. In those years, 129 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,160 Speaker 2: there were busy factories, humming young people carrying heavy responsibilities, 130 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 2: while hope quietly rose after hard seasons. Then came a 131 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 2: little nudge from family. It was Mel's brother Jim who 132 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 2: introduced them. He said he should meet my younger brother, Jennifer. 133 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 2: McMullen recalled, you'd be good together. Turns out he was right. 134 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 2: Mal and Jennifer Mary married on May thirteenth, nineteen forty six, 135 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 2: and together they raised three sons and later welcome four 136 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 2: grandchildren into their family. Their quiet, simple life was built 137 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 2: on ordinary faithfulness, which often becomes extraordinary when you look back. 138 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 2: On May thirteenth, the loved ones gather to celebrate their 139 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 2: eightieth anniversary. Their son even performed an original song in 140 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 2: honor of his parents, adding another deeply human layer to 141 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 2: a family story already full of warmth. When asked what 142 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 2: keeps a marriage strong after eight decades, Mel answered with humility. 143 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 2: I think just to keep happy and keep an open mind. 144 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 2: Mel said, never think that what you think is better 145 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: than what the other one thinks. Jennifer offered a simpler 146 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 2: answer that somehow carried the weight of a century. The 147 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 2: secret is love. Sometimes the sweetest stories remind us that 148 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 2: love does not always shout. Sometimes it sits quietly besides 149 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 2: someone for eighty years and still chooses commitment and love 150 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 2: above all else. No wonder how many other love stories 151 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 2: like this are out there. I imagine there are few 152 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 2: and far between, but their story gives us something to 153 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 2: live up to. Above all, love each other deeply, because 154 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 2: love covers over a multipude of sins. One, Peter four eight. 155 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast. 156 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story. 157 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 158 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes, 159 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 160 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. We'd 161 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: also love it if you'd rate us and leave us 162 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,959 Speaker 1: a review. It really does help more people find us. 163 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: Story Behind is a Salem Web Network production.