Martin Short

Martin John Short (22 September 1943 – 27 August 2020) was a British TV documentary producer and author. He is best known for his exposés on organized crime and on Freemasonry. Early life Short was born in Wookey, Somerset but later his family moved to London, where he attended St Dunstan's College. His father, George Short, was an aircraft engineer, and his mother, Hazel, was a nurse. In 1962, he went to Cambridge University to study history and was also a member of the Footlights Dramatic Club. Career After graduating from university, Short travelled in the Middle East and did freelance work for the BBC, before working, from 1969 to 1984, on major current affairs programmes for the ITV companies Thames Television, Granada and London Weekend Television (on the Lebanon) and for Channel 4's Dispatches series (on the international arms trade). In 1988 he presented Charlie Richardson and the British Mafia for Longshot Productions and Channel 4. Short has also completed a television series based on his 1989 book Inside the Brotherhood (Further Secrets of the Freemasons), for the ITV network with Twenty Twenty Television and Granada. As a result of his work on Freemasonry, Short made an extended appearance on Channel 4's After Dark television discussion series, and on 6 April 1989 was praised by Labour MP Max Madden in the UK House of Commons by way of two Early day motions asking the House to take action on information that Short had brought forward, and to congratulate Short on his work.