Martin Short finally broke his silence about the tragic death of his daughter, Katherine, which occurred two months ago. In a recent interview, he touched upon how the event deeply affected him and his family, comparing it with the loss of his wife, Nancy Dolman, around 16 years ago.
Notably, Short has suffered the loss of multiple family members while growing up. At 12, he lost his older brother, David, to a car accident. Later, when he was 17, his mother died from cancer, with his father passing away two years later from a stroke.
Martin Short recently sat down for an interview to promote his new documentary film, Marty: Life is Short. During the discussion, the actor was asked about his experience with grief and loss. This naturally led to him touching upon his daughter, Katherine’s, death.
“It’s been a nightmare for the family,” the Only Murders in the Building star told CBS News of the tragic event. Highlighting both his daughter’s mental health issues and his late wife’s battle with ovarian cancer, which she lost, he called both “diseases.” Short added, “Sometimes with diseases they are terminal.”
He continued, “And my daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she couldn’t until she couldn’t.” Short then brought up the same last words she and his wife shared with him: “let me go.”
Katherine Short died by suicide at the age of 42 on February 23, 2026. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call from her Hollywood Hills home after 6:40 p.m. Pacific Time (PT). As per TMZ, law enforcement revealed she passed away from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Later, the outlet reported that her body was found behind a locked door, along with a “note.” They also shared that her friend placed the call to the authorities after Katherine wasn’t “heard from in 24 hours.” Notably, her death certificate revealed she had been cremated.
Before her demise, a close friend revealed that Katherine displayed normal behavior during the lead-up to it. However, they said that the latter opened up about her mental health struggles.
Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on Mandatory.