If Martin Short’s enduring popularity needed any further proof, Netflix is about to underline it in bold. The comedy icon equals chaos engine and precision performer is getting a full-length documentary that pulls back the curtain on a career that never really dimmed. Titled Marty, Life Is Short, the film promises to bring his life, losses, and larger-than-life persona into sharper focus.

Here is everything to know about the documentary’s release, its first trailer, and what it reveals about one of comedy’s most beloved figures.

Marty, Life Is Short arrives on May 12, 2026, positioning itself as both a celebration and a reckoning. The film is directed by Lawrence Kasdan, whose filmography spans The Big Chill, Wyatt Earp, and Body Heat, and whose narrative sensibility leans heavily into character-driven storytelling. He is a four-time Oscar nominee.

The project is produced by Sara Bernstein, Meredith Kaulfers, Christopher St. John, Justin Wilkes, and Blair Foster, with executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer backing it through Imagine Documentaries. 

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In other words, this a prestige treatment of a comic who has spent decades making it all look effortless.

Netflix’s newly released trailer for Marty, Life Is Short leans into something fans have always sensed but rarely articulated: Martin Short is essential. It opens with archival footage of Short in motion, mid-bit, mid-laugh, mid-life, underscored by Steve Martin’s voice, a collaborator who knows him best. His line lands like both a joke and a thesis: if Marty cannot make your party, you cancel the party. It is a neat distillation of Short’s gravitational pull, the kind that has kept him relevant from stage to screen to streaming.

The documentary blends never-before-seen archival footage with intimate interviews, creating a layered portrait of a performer who built a career out of controlled absurdity. The logline promises a look at “one of the most influential comedians of a generation,” but the trailer suggests something deeper, an exploration of joy as a discipline, not just a personality trait.

The film traces Martin Short’s rise from his breakout on Saturday Night Live to a film and television career that includes everything from scene-stealing supporting roles to cult-favorite creations like Jiminy Glick. It also examines his current renaissance, bolstered by projects that introduced him to newer audiences without diluting his core appeal. What elevates the documentary is its chorus of voices. Steve Martin, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Mulaney, and Tom Hanks all contribute, each offering a slightly different angle on the same truth: Martin Short is singular. 

As Mulaney puts it, “Marty is good at life” a deceptively simple line that carries weight once the film delves into his personal history. Because behind the elastic expressions and impeccable timing is a life marked by profound loss. Short at age 76, lost his brother at a young age, then both parents within a short span. His wife, Nancy Dolman, died in 2010, and more recently, his daughter Katherine passed away at 42. 

Ultimately, Marty, Life Is Short does not settle for a simple celebration, it reframes Martin Short’s journey as something more layered, where the brilliance of his comedy exists alongside the resilience it took to sustain it. 

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What are your expectations from the documentary? Share your thoughts in the comments.