After months of staying silent, Martin Short has broken his silence on the unthinkable loss of his daughter, Katherine Short, who took her own life earlier this year.
For someone known for bringing laughter to millions, the 76-year-old comedian has endured unimaginable heartbreak.
He addressed the painful reality of losing his daughter, ahead of the Tuesday release of his new documentary, Marty, Life Is Short.
Highlights
- Martin Short broke his silence on the loss of his daughter, Katherine Short.
- Officials confirmed that she lost her life by intentionally pulling the trigger on herself.
- “My daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health,” the comedian said.
- The actor recalled how his daughter said something to him that was similar to his wife Nancy’s final words.
Martin Short broke his silence on the unthinkable loss of his daughter, Katherine Short
Image credits: CBS Sunday Morning
Trigger warning: this article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Katherine and her two brothers, Oliver, 40, and Henry, 36, were adopted by Martin and his late wife of 30 years, Nancy Dolman, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2010.
In February, Katherine’s friend called the police after not hearing from her for 24 hours.
The Los Angeles Fire Department showed up at her Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, address and found the 42-year-old behind a locked bedroom door.
Image credits: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
Katherine was found unresponsive at the scene, alongside a “note” and a firearm, officials said.
Officials confirmed that she lost her life by intentionally pulling the trigger on herself.
Martin addressed the loss of his daughter during an appearance on CBS News Sunday Morning on May 10.
42-year-old Katherine was found unresponsive in her LA apartment, next to a “note” and a firearm
Image credits: Joan Adlen/Getty Images
“It's been a nightmare for the family,” he told host Tracy Smith about her passing. “But the understanding that mental health and cancer, like my wife, are both diseases and sometimes with diseases, they are terminal.”
The Only Murders in the Building star spoke about his daughter’s mental health battles.
“My daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health,” he said. “Borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she could until she couldn't.”
Image credits: Tiffany Rose/Getty Images
The A Simple Wish actor recalled how his daughter said something to him that was similar to his wife Nancy's final words.
“So, Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go,’” he said. “And what [Katherine] was just saying [was], ‘Dad, let me go.’”
The new Netflix documentary Marty, Life Is Short, about the comedian, releases Tuesday
Martin went on to recall the events that unfolded on the day his daughter was found lifeless in her apartment.
“I was getting in the car that day,” he said. “And I was thinking, ‘Okay, I'm 75. Why am I continuing? Like, really? What is the point of this?’”
But when he arrived at his son Oliver’s house in Newport Beach, California, Martin remembered sharing a moment with his grandsons that kept his hope alive.
Image credits: CBS Sunday Morning
“I got to Newport, and these two grandsons, five and four just jumped, ‘Let's play giant,’” he said. “And suddenly go, ‘Oh, that's why. That's why.’”
Following his daughter's passing, the comedian said he wanted to take “mental health out of the shadows.” He hoped people would stop feeling “ashamed” about having conversations about it and not be “hiding from the word su*cide, but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness.”
Martin spoke about his daughter's mental health battles over the years
Image credits: CBS Sunday Morning
Over the past year, Martin also had to cope with the loss of his dear friends and fellow Hollywood veterans, including Diane Keaton, Rob and Michele Reiner, and Catherine O’Hara.
“It’s staggering,” he said, reflecting on their passings. “You just have to breathe in, breathe out.”
Image credits: Robin Platzer/FilmMagic
Martin had to endure a series of losses in his life, starting from the age of 12 when he lost his older brother to a car accident.
He then lost both his parents before turning 20.
“My older brother David di*d first. He was the star of the family,” he said during an appearance at the Netflix Is a Joke Presents: This Better Be Funny with David Letterman event at The Montalban Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 7.
The Hollywood star lost his brother at the age of 12 and both his parents before turning 20
Image credits: Joan Adlen/Getty Images
“Then my mother was diagnosed with cancer at his funeral and di*d three years later,” he continued. “My father di*d the year after that.”
“So there was definitely a period where life changed completely,” he added.
Martin’s daughter, a licensed clinical social worker, consciously stepped away from her father’s fame and filed to change her name from “Katherine Elizabeth Short” to “Katherine Elizabeth Hartley” in 2012.
“My father is a public figure. I am a psychiatric social worker,” she was quoted as saying in official documents. “I am worried about potential harassment from future patients resulting from my association with my father.”
The name-change request was granted by a judge in early 2013.
If you or someone you know is struggling with self-harm or s**cidal ideation, help is available: International Hotlines
“So much trauma for this man to deal with in his life,” one commenter wrote online
