Less than three months ago, his daughter Katherine Hartley Short committed herself at the age of 42. Martin Short has spoken out about it, describing it as “a nightmare for the family.”
In February, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that Katherine, who had worked for a nonprofit mental health organization called Bring Change To Mind, had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Short, 76, discussed the family sorrow with CBS Sunday Mornings, drawing comparisons to his wife Nancy Dolman’s cancer-related death in 2010.
The star of Father of the Bride, Three Amigos!, and Only Murders in the Building stated, “The understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal.”
“My daughter battled for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, and other things, and did the best she could until she couldn’t,” he went on.
In a statement released in February, Short’s representative announced the untimely death.
“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,” Short’s spokesman said in a statement. Martin Short, 76, has opened up about the devastating suicide of his daughter Katherine Hartley Short at 42 less than three months ago, calling it “a nightmare for the family.” “Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world,” the Short family says, requesting privacy at this difficult time.
Following the untimely death of his daughter, Short received visits from colleagues like Paul Shaffer, Kurt Russell, Steven Spielberg, and Eugene Levy at his Southern California home.
In order to promote his new Netflix documentary, Marty: Life Is Short, the performer made an appearance on the network.
The streamer’s logline reads, “Martin Short looks back on a life fuelled by joy in this documentary with classic clips, fresh interviews and star-studded, never-before-seen home movies.”
Short dedicated the document to both Katherine and his late colleague and friend Catherine O’Hara, who passed away in January at the age of 71.
O’Hara died on January 30 at the age of 71 from a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer cited as an underlying cause, according to officials from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Netflix will launch Life Is Short on May 12.
Less than a month after Short’s daughter Katherine Hartley Short tragically committed herself at the age of 42, O’Brien concluded Sunday’s event with the words, “We love you, Martin Short!”
According to Short, his late daughter “did the best she couldn’t until she couldn’t.”
