Martin Short breaks silence on daughter’s tragic suicide at 42

Martin Short has opened up about the tragic suicide of his daughter Katherine Hartley Short at 42 less than three months ago, saying her loss has ‘been a nightmare’ for all who loved her while sharing a poignant message about mental health.

Katherine died in February from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities with the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed in February.

Short, 76, spoke with CBS Sunday Mornings about the family tragedy, comparing her battle with mental health to that of the 2010 death of his wife Nancy Dolman, who passed away from cancer.

‘The understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal,’ said the star of Father of the Bride, Three Amigos! and Only Murders in the Building.

He continued: ‘My daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she could until she couldn’t.’

Short said his aim was to support a mental health awareness organization founded by Glenn Close called Bringchange2mind. 

He said the nonprofit aims to take ‘mental health out of the shadows’ and conduct frank discussions on the important topics at hand. 

Short shared a moving message that touched on how he hopes struggles with mental health can be understood. 

‘Not being ashamed of it, not hiding from the word suicide, but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness – and that’s my approach to this,’ he said. 

Martin Short, 76, has opened up about the tragic suicide of his daughter Katherine Hartley Short at 42 less than three months ago, calling it ‘a nightmare for the family’

The Canadian-born actor and comedian detailed how he had been faced with tragedy while growing up and how it had affected him.

He lost his older brother in a car crash when he was 12 and both his parents died when he was a teenager.

His mother, Short told People on May 7 in Los Angeles, died from cancer three years after his brother passed and his father followed her to his grave a year later.

‘What it developed in me was this muscle of survival and handling grief and a perspective on it,’ he explained.

‘We have to celebrate and be lucky enough the experiences that we’ve had with them.’

He added that he likes to think of those he loses as being ‘just gone into the next room for a while.’ 

O’Brien ended Sunday’s ceremony saying, ‘We love you Martin Short!’ less than a month after the tragic suicide of Short’s daughter Katherine Hartley Short at the age of 42 

Short said his late daughter ‘did the best she couldn’t until she couldn’t’

The comic star also touched on how he has managed to keep such a positive public face in the wake of multiple family tragedies. 

After he was asked about a quotation from his friend Tom Hanks, who said that Short ‘operates at the speed of joy,’ Short was at first hesitant to ‘analyze’ himself. 

However, he accepted Hanks’s judgment and admitted, ‘I think I do have the happy gene, and I think my orientation is to be happy.’ 

Short told People on May 7 in Los Angeles: ‘My older brother David died first. He was the star of the family. 

‘Then my mother was diagnosed with cancer at his funeral and died three years later. My father died the year after that.’

A representative for Short confirmed the tragic passing of his daughter in a statement in February.

‘It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,’ Short’s representative said in a statement. ‘The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time.

Short told CBS of surviving early life tragedies including the death of his brother (when he was 12) and parents (as a teen): ‘What it developed in me was this muscle of survival and handling grief and a perspective on it’

Short and his Only Murders in the Building costar Selena Gomez embraced May 6 in LA 

The entertainer’s new doc Life Is Short debuts May 12 on Netflix.

‘Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.’ 

Katherine was a licensed clinical social worker with a master’s degree from the University of Southern California. 

Officials with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed O’Hara’s cause of death as the result of a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer listed as an underlying cause. 

Short told CBS that losing his daughter, O’Hara and longtime friends Diane Keaton and Rob and Michele Reiner in a short span had been ‘staggering.’

He said when contemplating the painful losses, ‘You just have to breathe in, breathe out.’ 

Short is father to Katherine and sons Oliver Patrick, 39, and Henry Hayter, 36, with his late spouse. 

Short and Dolman were married for 30 years before her death from ovarian cancer in 2010.

Of his late spouse, Short told the network, ‘She was funny – she had lots of edge. It was an equal ping pong match. … although Tom Hanks would go up to Nancy, “Aren’t you tired of laughing at his jokes?”‘

(L-R) Haylen Short, Henry Short, Martin Short, Oliver Short and Elissa Short at the LA premiere Of Netflix’s ‘Marty, Life Is Short’ held at The Egyptian Theatre May 6 

Short told CBS Sunday, ‘Nan’s last words to me were, “Marty, let me go,” and [Katherine] was just saying, “Dad, let me go.”‘

In the wake of his daughter’s tragic death, Short was visited at his Southern California home by peers such as Eugene Levy, Steven Spielberg, Kurt Russell and Paul Shaffer. 

Speaking about his late wife in a 2019 AARP interview, Short described their marriage as a ‘triumph.’

He said: ‘She died in 2010, but I still communicate with her all the time. It’s “Hey, Nan,” you know? How would she react to this decision or that, especially regarding our three kids.’

Short also said that he has never been one of those people who think death means ‘the end.’

‘I believe that when people die, they zoom into the people that love them,’ said Short. ‘This idea that it just ends, and don’t speak of them – that’s wrong. That’s based on denial that we’re all going to die. So to me, she’s still here.’

In his 2014 memoir I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend, Short said Dolman’s death is ‘by far the most awful thing I’ve been through.’

And as he supported his children through the grief of losing their mother, Short drew from his own experiences.

Short told CBS Sunday, ‘So Nan’s last words to me were, “Marty, let me go,” and [Katherine] was just saying, “Dad, let me go”‘

Speaking to his youngest child, son Henry, the night before his wife died, he told him: ‘This will make you stronger. This will make you more determined.’

In the interview, Short recalled how Nancy encouraged him to continue taking roles amid her ailment, as he landed a part on the FX drama Damages at the time.

‘I didn’t work as much, but I remember I was doing Damages at the time,’ he said.

‘This was the last five months, but I went for a month to shoot, and I remember getting to set, and no one knew.

‘And Glenn would go, ‘Marty’s here, yay!” And I’d go, ‘Okay. Let me just go to the dressing room for a second’ to calm down amid the emotional timeframe.

Short added, ‘You know, that’s what you have to do.’

He said he wasn’t sure if working amid the tough time was the right call, but something he did all the same. 

‘I don’t know if it helped,’ he said. ‘You know, it didn’t help, but you had to do it, you know? I mean, people have to do things in difficult times. And the mark of the man is: Can you do it?

In the CBS interview, Short spoke about how he’s lived in Pacific Palisades, California – the oceanfront community heavily impacted by last year’s wildfires – for nearly four decades 

The veteran Hollywood star explained how he puts tragedies in life into perspective 

‘Well, it’s something that, I’ve just been in that situation many times: “You head for the light.”

In the CBS interview, Short spoke about how he’s lived in Pacific Palisades, California – the oceanfront community heavily impacted by last year’s wildfires – for nearly four decades.

‘I bought this in November of ’87,’ he said of his house. ‘It was based on two movies that I was gonna make.

‘And the second I signed the mortgage, one movie fell through. And I said to Nancy, “What do we do? We can’t afford this.” And she said, “Then we’d move?”‘

He said that while his house was not impacted by the fires of 2025, his son Oliver’s house did not survive the blazes, leading them to temporarily move to Orange County, California.

‘My son Oliver and his wife are temporarily living in Newport Beach, because their house burned down,’ he said. 

Short continued, ‘And I must say, when I was getting in the car that day and I was thinking, “Okay. I’m 75. Why am I continuing? Like, really why? I’m not gonna crash my car, but why? What is the point of this?”‘

He added, ‘And then I got to Newport, and these two grandsons, five and four, just jump, “Papa! Let’s play giant!” And suddenly you go, “Oh, that’s why. That’s why. Okay.”‘

Martin Short poses with late wife Nancy Dolan and the late Katherine Elizabeth and Oliver Patrick for a portrait in 1989 in LA

The actor pictured with late wife Nancy Dolman in Beverly Hills, California in 2000

Director Lawrence Kasdan told CBS of making the documentary about Short, ‘It was not a natural instinct of his to want it; he’s not like that. I had to sell him on it’

Director Lawrence Kasdan told CBS of making the documentary about Short, ‘It was not a natural instinct of his to want it; he’s not like that. I had to sell him on it. 

Kasdan, whose credits include The Big Chill, Silverado and Body Heat, explained the tack he had to take with Short about putting together the doc.

‘I had to lie to him, tell him how much I loved him and I would never hurt him,’ he said. 

Life Is Short debuts May 12 on Netflix. 

According to a logline from the streamer, ‘Martin Short looks back on a life fueled by joy in this documentary with classic clips, fresh interviews and star-studded, never-before-seen home movies.’