In season 3 of Only Murders in the Building, Martin Short’s vibrant Oliver Putnam romanced Meryl Streep’s quirky Loretta Durkin. Fans have been wondering if art has imitated real life, questioning whether or not the pair are dating.
Are Meryl Streep and Martin Short Dating?
Prior to sharing the screen in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Martin and Meryl both established themselves as Hollywood icons. The Canadian actor conquered the Saturday Night Live stage in the ‘80s and later found a home on Broadway. Similarly, Meryl’s big break came in the late ‘70s with her role in The Deer Hunter while balancing a Broadway career.
The two powerhouse performers united in the comedy-mystery series, also starring Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, in 2023. Steve, one of Martin’s closest Hollywood friends, previously worked with Meryl in the 2009 rom-com It’s Complicated.
Meryl actually reached out to Martin and Steve about her love for Only Murders in the Building before joining the cast.
“[Executive producers] Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal and I, after season 2, got together and started talking about this opener that introduced this actress into the world,” cocreator John Hoffman told Variety in August 2023 of how Meryl’s role came to be. “I said to Dan, ‘Well, what would be dreamy for the person who never got their break, is if Meryl Streep played this.’ He’s like, ‘’Yeah, good luck with that, John.’ And then it was a matter of two weeks that Meryl was calling Marty and Steve, just to say that she likes the show.”
Meryl earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work on the series. At the January 2024 ceremony, she sat next to Martin in the audience. The camera panned to them throughout the night as they cheered on their Hollywood pals.
Rumors began swirling that the pair were more than just friends after the outing. The speculation led Martin to speak out via a statement through his rep saying the duo “are just very good friends, nothing more.”
Martin further denounced the romance rumors during an appearance on Bill Maher‘s “Club Random” podcast later that month. Bill referred to Martin and Meryl as a “power couple,” which led the Three Amigos actor to shut down the rumor mill.
“We’re not a couple,” he assured listeners. “We are just very close friends.”
After the comment was made, Bill decided he wasn’t ready to ditch the topic just yet, trying to encourage the pair to date while working together in Hollywood.
“Well, you should because there’s nothing more powerful in Hollywood than a power couple,” the commentator joked. “It worked for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, it worked for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.”
Meryl Streep Recently Announced She Was Single
In October 2023, the Oscar winner announced that she and her husband, Don Gummer, were no longer together.
“Don Gummer and Meryl Streep have been separated for more than 6 years, and while they will always care for each other, they have chosen lives apart,” a spokesperson for the movie star told Page Six at the time.
Despite their split after four decades of marriage, Meryl still wears her wedding ring “out of habit,” an insider told Closer that month. As for Martin’s relationship history, he was married to his wife, Nancy Dolman, from 1980 up until her death in 2010 from ovarian cancer.
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