Fictional character created and portrayed by Martin Short
Fictional character
Ed Grimley
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First appearance
| "Indecent Exposure - SCTV Movie of the Week: The Nutty Lab Assistant"
SCTV
November 12, 1982
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Created by
| Martin Short
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Portrayed by
| Martin Short
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Edward Mayhoff 'Ed' Grimley
is a fictional character created and portrayed by
Martin Short
.
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The original concept came from the stories told by Bob Ingram about his childhood imaginary friend. Developed amongst
The Second City
improv comedy troupe, Grimley made his television debut on the sketch comedy show
SCTV
in 1982, leading to popular success for both Short and the persona. Short continued to portray Grimley on
Saturday Night Live
and in various other appearances. The character also starred in
Hanna-Barbera
's 1988 animated series
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
, and appeared in Short's comedy specials
I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood
and
I, Martin Short, Goes Home
.
Concept and creation
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Martin Short originated the character on Toronto's
Second City
stage as an unnamed school parent in a sketch. Originally, his hair was simply very greasy and unkempt, but
Peter Aykroyd
, another cast member, joked offstage that the height of the hair seemed to increase with each performance. In an interview, Short said that he was inspired by a scene from the John Wayne movie
McLintock
and started greasing it straight up. Short noticed an incidental baring of his teeth raised laughs; that too became a character trait. Over numerous appearances, the character of Ed Grimley began to take shape.
Ed Grimley is an excessively
cowlicked
, voluble, hyperactive manchild who is obsessed with banal
popular culture
, particularly
Wheel of Fortune
and its host,
Pat Sajak
. He also loves to play the
triangle
, which for him consists of playing a recorded musical piece, striking the triangle once, and then wildly dancing to the recording. His catchphrases include "I must say", "let's face it", "totally decent", "makes me completely mental," and "give me a break".
Appearances
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Short was added to the cast of Second City's television offshoot
SCTV
in 1982, debuting the Ed Grimley character in the skit "SCTV Movie of the Week: The Nutty Lab Assistant". Grimley became an
SCTV
fixture, appearing in the various shows, commercials, promos, and "behind-the-scenes" dramas that made up the fictional channel's programming. After the show's end in 1984, Short moved to the more prominent
Saturday Night Live
, bringing his breakout character with him.
With Grimley, his best-known original character, Martin Short's popularity on
SNL
proved to be the springboard to a long career in film and TV. He appeared as Ed Grimley in his 1985 Showtime special
Martin Short: Concert For the North Americas
, at
Comic Relief 1986
, and in 1989's
I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood
. Grimley became a cartoon character in
Hanna-Barbera
's 1988 animated series
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
, featuring Second City colleagues
Joe Flaherty
(also reprising his
SCTV
character,
Count Floyd
),
Catherine O'Hara
and
Andrea Martin
as series regulars.
Short briefly revived the Ed Grimley role in his 1995 series
The Show Formerly Known As the Martin Short Show
, for a spoof of the comedy film
Dave
, and appeared again in a 1996 episode of
Muppets Tonight
, in which Grimley marries
Miss Piggy
to obtain an $85 inheritance from his deceased great-uncle. The character seemingly died later that year on
Saturday Night Live
, in the skit "Ed Grimley in Heaven", though Grimley is brought back to life by his guardian angel (played by guest star
Chevy Chase
) after showing a video of Ed Grimley's life and commenting that he needs to do more with it before he can come back to Heaven. Grimley would however make a number of appearances in 1999's
The Martin Short (Talk) Show
.
Ed Grimley made a brief onstage appearance, triangle in hand, in the 2006
Broadway
show
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
. He appeared again in 2009's
Let Freedom Hum: An Evening of Comedy Hosted By Martin Short
. Short reprised his role as Ed Grimley in a
Saturday Night Live
parody music video of
Drake's
Hotline Bling
in November 2015 on the season 41 episode hosted by then-Presidential candidate
Donald Trump
.
See also
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References
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