Martin Short's character Franck from the movie Father of the Bride divided the audience into two neat camps: one argued that Frank was queer, while the other argued against. 

Regardless, Short's on-screen persona garnered widespread attention as "the gay wedding planner" from Father of the Bride. 

Franck Wasn't Meant to Be Portrayed as Gay

In an interview with Pride Source, the comic actor cleared the air about his character in the movie. He claimed that it was never his intention to portray Franck as a gay guy. 

Instead, he mentioned that Frank especially caught his attention because he preferred playing characters that have unusual, heightened, and/or eccentric behavior that the audience might find funny. Frank just happened to meet those prerequisites. 

Short then went on to explain that discerning gay from straight was not as straightforward as most might expect. He added, 

It’s often very hard to figure out who’s gay. I’ve met really effeminate people who are surprisingly sincerely straight. And then the opposite.

The actor also claimed that he often met people like Franck in real life too. But, more often than not, those people would be happily married with a wife and eight kids. 

The outlet further reported that Franck was a relatively difficult character for the production to fit into the movie. The character was mostly an improvised flowery persona that had to be tucked neatly into what was already a sweet and sincere flick. 

Is Martin Short Gay?

Despite Short's statement, people often put him squarely into the gay bracket or question if he is gay because he played a flamboyant role in a popular movie. 

Contrary to public belief, Short is not gay, and he once had a wife by the name of Nancy Dolman. Sadly, she passed away in 2010. 

According to a report from People at the time, Dolman died relatively young, at the age of 58. The LA County Cotoner Chief Craig Harvey told the outlet that Dolman was under the care of a physician for a natural disease prior to her death. 

He further clarified that there would be no coroner involvement on the matter. However, he did not mention the name of the illness that plagued Short's late wife. 

The outlet got its hands on a 2007 report that claimed Dolman had been battling cancer but opted to keep the source undisclosed. 

On a later date, Short confessed to Larry King that his wife's death was not sudden and that she battled for three whole years before the disease got the better of her. 

Martin Short's Wife Was Still with Him

In a 2019 cover story with AARP, Short announced that his marriage with Dolman was a triumph. Even after nine years since her passing, Short claimed that he communicated with her all the time. 

He admitted to often considering her response to a certain decision before making it, especially when it came to their three kids: Katherine, Oliver, and Henry.

Short also openly refuted the idea of not speaking about the dead and assuming that everything ends at death. Instead, he believed those ideas stemmed from a place of denial, where people refuse to believe that they, too, are mortals. 

So to him, his wife was always with him, and the tragedy of losing her left him emboldened. He admitted that he had become a little more daring since she left.