{"id":91815,"date":"2025-08-18T12:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/91815\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T12:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:27:10","slug":"people-are-in-awe-of-martin-shorts-classy-response-to-kathie-lee-gifford-repeatedly-referring-to-his-late-wife-as-though-she-were-alive-in-an-awkward-resurfaced-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/91815\/","title":{"rendered":"People Are In Awe Of Martin Short\u2019s \u201cClassy\u201d Response To Kathie Lee Gifford Repeatedly Referring To His Late Wife As Though She Were Alive In An Awkward Resurfaced Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martin Short\u2019s<\/a> 30-year marriage to his wife, Nancy Dolman, was one of the most wholesome relationships in Hollywood, with Martin and actor Nancy meeting back in 1972 when they starred in the Toronto production of Godspell.<\/p>\n

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Ron Galella, Ltd. \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

They got married in 1980, and Nancy retired from showbiz five years later to be a stay-at-home mom and raise their family, with she and Martin adopting three children over the years.<\/p>\n

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Mediapunch \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: Kieran Culkin Explained Why His Kids Haven\u2019t Watched \u201cHome Alone\u201d Yet, And His Reasoning Makes Total Sense<\/a><\/p>\n

Tragically, Nancy died of ovarian cancer in August 2010, and Martin has been open about how his wife\u2019s passing impacted him over the years.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

Kristian Dowling \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2014, Martin revealed that before she died, Nancy had told him that she didn\u2019t want a funeral.<\/p>\n

“She once said to me: ‘I don’t want a funeral, and I don’t want a memorial. Throw a party, or not,\u2019\u201d he recalled on The Meredith Vieira Show<\/a>. “So I just followed her wishes. We went up. We had a party with all the family \u2014 about 30 close friends and family. The kids and I went into a boat. We sprinkled the ashes in the water, and we jumped into the ashes.\u201d<\/p>\n

And speaking to The Hollywood Reporter<\/a> just last year, Martin said of Nancy\u2019s death: “It was absolutely horrible, obviously, and as sad as anything. I will tell you what I said to my kids at the time: ‘I believe Mom has zoomed into our souls.'”<\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

Kristina Bumphrey \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

He then mentioned a George Eliot quote that he\u2019d also shared with his children when their mom died, saying: \u201cGeorge Eliot said: \u2018Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.’ We were together for 36 years. I didn’t want to forget Nancy.”<\/p>\n

Now, Martin has won widespread praise for the \u201cclassy\u201d way he handled Kathie Lee Gifford<\/a> discussing his marriage with Nancy unaware that she had died during an awkward interview on the Today Show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

Nbc Newswire \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

For context, the actor was on the show to promote his movie Madagascar 3: Europe\u2019s Most Wanted, and how he reacted to Kathie\u2019s questions about his and Nancy\u2019s relationship is beyond impressive.<\/p>\n

Related: “Honey Boo Boo” Is A 19-Year-Old College Student Now, And Here’s What She Looks Like Today<\/a><\/p>\n

It all started when Kathie asked: \u201cYou and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business, how many years now for you guys?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"After<\/p>\n

After a slight hesitation, Martin replied: \u201cWe, uh\u2026 Married 36 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kathie then pushed: \u201cBut you\u2019re still, like, in love?\u201d to which Martin confirmed: \u201cMadly in love. Madly in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d Kathie followed up with a laugh, and here, Martin offered a slight shrug before joking: \u201cCute, I\u2019m cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

The host then said: \u201cAnd you make each other laugh, right?\u201d To which Martin said \u201cyes\u201d before Kathie\u2019s co-host, Hoda Kotb<\/a>, changed the subject.<\/p>\n

Discussing the resurfaced clip on a Reddit<\/a> forum, a popular comment lauded Martin for the \u201cgenerous\u201d way that he responded to Kathie\u2019s questions. It reads<\/a>: \u201dI’ve seen this clip a few times, and it’s a complete Masterclass from Marty on how to be a classy, generous public figure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cHe<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t want to embarrass her or make it awkward so he just went with it and took the chance to talk about the woman he loved. A class act,\u201d somebody else echoed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While another wrote<\/a>: \u201cVery classy response from Martin. I know it wasn\u2019t malicious on Kathie Lee\u2019s part, but I\u2019m dumbfounded how she didn\u2019t know about his wife\u2019s passing. It should\u2019ve been basic info to know when she was prepping to interview a guest.\u201d<\/p>\n

One more noted<\/a>: \u201cHis eyes are so sad \ud83d\ude2d\ud83d\ude2d\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMartin handled this with so much grace,\u201d another user wrote<\/a>. \u201cI know he didn\u2019t want to embarrass her and she didn\u2019t mean it, but interviewers (or the people responsible for research) really need to do background research on the people they interview.”<\/p>\n

Related: Leonardo DiCaprio\u2019s 26-Year-Old Girlfriend, Vittoria Ceretti, Just Talked About What It\u2019s Really Like Dating Him \u2014 And Some Of Her Comments Are Making Me View Them Differently<\/a><\/p>\n

At the time, Kathie acknowledged her misstep after a commercial break, telling viewers: \u201cI felt so badly for my question. Marty very kindly came up to me and told me what I had done, and I want to say my sincerest, sincerest apologies to him and to his family for not realizing what I was doing on live television.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"She<\/p>\n

Rob Kim \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

She also tweeted after the show: \u201cI send my sincerest apologies to @MartinShort and his family. He handled the situation w\/enormous grace and kindness and I\u2019m so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Martin was just as gracious about Kathie\u2019s blunder off-screen as he was on. The star was asked about the incident in a subsequent interview with E! News<\/a>, where he said: \u201cI think that it’s live television and people make mistakes and there’s no ill will intended.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

David Livingston \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Martin, now 75, has been romantically linked to<\/a> his Only Murders In The Building<\/a> costar Meryl Streep<\/a> since the start of 2024, but the two have not confirmed their relationship.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Michael Buckner \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Related: 34 Cringey Celeb Moments That I Feel Like Everyone Collectively Forgot<\/a><\/p>\n

You can watch the full Today Show clip below, let me know your thoughts in the comments!<\/p>\n

More on this<\/p>\n

Also in Celebrity: 34 Cringey Celeb Moments That I Feel Like Everyone Collectively Forgot<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in Celebrity: Channing Tatum Bought New Shirts To Avoid Doing Laundry For An Entire Year, And 14 Other Times Famous People Were Disgustingly Wasteful<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in Celebrity: 11 Baffling Celeb Moments Where They Forgot Common Sense<\/a><\/p>\n

Read it on BuzzFeed.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martin Short\u2019s 30-year marriage to his wife, Nancy Dolman, was one of the most wholesome relationships in Hollywood,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,2934,62607,50988,62606,24510],"class_list":{"0":"post-91815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-getty-images","10":"tag-kathie-lee-gifford","11":"tag-martin-short","12":"tag-nancy-dolman","13":"tag-steve-martin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}