The `Father of the Bride` actor`s spouse Nancy Dolman - who was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 -passed away on Saturday (21.08.10) at the couple`s Los Angeles home.

Martin`s representative Camille Kuznetz confirmed the death but did not give any details saying: "Sadly, we can confirm that Martin Short`s wife did pass away. We do not have any other comment to make."

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department`s spokesman Brian Humphrey, paramedics responded to a call for emergency medical help at the couple`s Pacific Palisades home on Saturday morning and were on the scene for approximately 30 minutes.

Paramedics did not transport anyone from the home and it is believed that 58-year-old Nancy died at the house.

The former actress - who starred in ABC sitcom `Soap` and her husband`s critically-acclaimed 1985 cable television special `Martin Short: Concert for the North Americas` - retired from showbiz in 1985 to become a full time mother.

The couple - who met in 1972 while performing in a Canadian production of `Godspell` and started dating two years later - married in 1980 and had three children together, Katherine, 27, Oliver, 24 and Henry, 20.
sections: Celebrities