INNER WORKINGS OF A COMIC ACTOR

“I’m probably the last actor you can imagine as a movie star except for Benji,” mused actor-comedian Martin Short, thinking over the possibility as if it had skit potential.

“If I was a Hollywood hotshot, I’d probably be cast as Dirty Harry’s guilt-ridden liberal partner,” the 34-year-old Short continued. “I’d die by walking into his line of fire and my last words would be an apology to Harry for making him stop killing jaywalkers in order to fill out my paperwork.”

“Innerspace,” in which Short plays a supermarket clerk with a miniaturized Dennis Quaid trapped inside him, could give the Canadian actor the cinema credibility that eluded him with his disappointing 1986 big-screen debut opposite Steve Martin and Chevy Chase in “The Three Amigos.” His television work, however, has earned him a wide following, with “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live” characters--antic, nerdy “Wheel of Fortune” devotee Ed Grimley, smug lawyer Nathan Thurm, albino singer Jackie Rogers Jr., among them--now part of the comedic lexicon.

Recently facing an all-day media blitz for “Innerspace” in Austin, Tex., Short was a picture of contentment despite a desire to spend Father’s Day with his wife and two children back home in Toronto.

“At ‘The Three Amigos’ press junket, everyone acted like we held their family hostage for a few hours,” Short recalled, his benign expression indicating he shared some of their feelings. “The ‘Innerspace’ media appeared to have enjoyed the film. I guess you get a better reception when you make a comedy that’s actually funny.”

Short doesn’t get much more outspoken than that because he always seems to be going for the laughs to put people at ease. Unlike other comedians or comic actors, Short doesn’t seek to be the center of conversation. He credits his training as a member of the “SCTV” ensemble, which included John Candy and Rick Moranis among others, for keeping his ego and talent in perspective.

“There was such a range of characters on ‘SCTV’ that it helped people believe that range could be a normal character as well. I’m a comic actor. I play the role given me. I don’t create a comic persona. I’ve had doubts as to how I would come across on the big screen, but I’ve never set out to do two hours of different characters just to prove to people I can act or look funny in strange clothes. If I ever found myself saying to a writer, ‘The role is good, but it needs more Marty in there!’ then aim a bazooka at me and fire.”

Since “Innerspace” was shot out of sequence, Short had a hard time keeping track of his constantly changing character, he said. “I literally had a graph at home to chart my schizo character’s progress. I get directions like, ‘You’re brave today Marty and then paranoid tomorrow. Make sure you brush your teeth accordingly.’

“Dennis (Quaid) was off camera feeding me his dialogue through an ear device, so I actually felt I was acting by myself. There were times I felt the soul of Jerry Lewis was trying to possess me,” he said with an easy grin.

During dinner with his family, Short discovered he’d be talking to himself as his “Innerspace” character did. “My wife, Nancy, learned to adjust, but she kept me away from the kids sometimes. She thought their dad had already revealed too many weird people floating inside him.”

Short and Quaid often spent time waiting for special effects to be ready by doing impersonations for the crew. “Marty would suddenly become Ed Grimley doing a fertility dance. Or he’s do Kate Hepburn and I’d be John Wayne doing dialogue from ‘Rooster Cogburn,’ ” Quaid recalled, shaking his head at the memory. “Here we were on this elaborate sci-fi set in a tense moment when there were problems with a special effect and Marty bursts out singing ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin.’ With a crazy talented guy like that leading the movie, you just sit back, smile and give him what he needs because you know he’s making everyone else look good.”

Short was studying to be a social worker at McMaster University in Canada when he met actors Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas, who would later become his co-stars on “SCTV.” With their encouragement, he auditioned for and later got multiple roles in the Toronto production of “Godspell.” This led to his being cast as Snoopy in a local production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” Short’s first network series, “The Associates,” lasted one season, so he returned to Canada, where in 1982 he began a three-year stint writing (which earned him an Emmy) and performing on “SCTV.” Once Short joined “Saturday Night Live” for the 1984 season, he was on his way to becoming a bankable film actor.

“People who watch that show go to see movies. The audience is the same studios feel they need to reach in their movies. Instead of Broadway theater, ‘Saturday Night’ has become the farm system for today’s comedy film performers,” explained Short, who, no doubt sensing that possibility, refused to renew his one-year “SNL” contract.

Short hasn’t given up on television, however, and didn’t miss a chance to promote his latest effort: hosting an hour HBO special featuring female comedians July 11 entitled “Women of the Night.”

“I miss doing skits on television especially with people in the news like Oliver North, Donna Rice, the Bakkers and Ed Meese practically writing your material for you. I could see Ed Grimley on a date with Fawn Hall. When we did ‘Saturday Night Live’ if a skit failed you’d almost say to the audience, ‘Hey don’t worry, we’ll be better next week.’

With ‘The Three Amigos’ I feel as if I’ve spent almost a year apologizing that this silly little comedy turned out to be what some critics thought was a crime against nature. Even in television you have to know your audience. Before Lucille Ball came back on TV, I wrote a skit for ‘Saturday Night’ that never made the show. It was called ‘Look Who’s Married Harry’ and it had Lucy as Bess Truman. If we had shot it as an on-air promo, it might have worked, but that was more ‘SCTV’ style.

“But ‘Saturday Night Live’ let me get away with one line I’m still surprised by. I was playing Jackie Rogers Jr. doing a talk show and Pamela Sue Martin was a clairvoyant guesting on the show. I asked if she saw anything in my future and she replied that she saw a new love. I said that has to be true, because just by holding my hand she was giving Jackie a chubby. Saying that line was my legacy on ‘Saturday Night.’ ”

Short co-stars with Annette O’Toole in a romantic comedy entitled “Cross My Heart,” which debuts in October. “It’s a nice, sweet, funny, romantic film that’s centered on one date with these two different people. Speaking of different people, Rick Moranis and I are thinking of writing a film based on what Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty thought were their characters in ‘Ishtar,’ ” Short says with a quick laugh. “I just want to do good work that doesn’t embarrass anyone and gives people a good time. And if they pay me lots of money in the process, everybody will go home happy.”