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Edward Mayhoff 'Ed' Grimley is a fictional character created and portrayed by Martin Short. Developed amongst
The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...
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 ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'' 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

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 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 Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, particularly '' Wheel of Fortune'' and its host, Pat Sajak. He also loves to play the
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...
, 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

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 a ''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 ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
'', 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 Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American-Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and ''Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), ''W ...
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 ''Muppets Tonight'' is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented television series created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. Much like the "MuppeTelevision" segment of ''The Jim Henson Hour'' (1989), the show was a contin ...
'', in which Grimley marries
Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is one of the Muppet characters known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases i ...
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 Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
) 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 Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
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 Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
.


See also

* Recurring ''Saturday Night Live'' characters and sketches


References

{{SCTV Saturday Night Live characters SCTV characters Male characters in television NBC original programming Television characters introduced in 1982 Saturday Night Live in the 1980s