Martin Short Addresses His Daughter Katherine’s Death

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Martin Short Addresses His Daughter Katherine’s Death

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On Sunday, Martin Short spoke publicly for the first time about losing his daughter, Katherine, who died by suicide at the age of 42 earlier this year. In an interview with CBS, the Only Murders in the Building actor said Katherine’s death has been a “nightmare” for the whole family. A licensed social worker, Katherine was one of three children Short adopted with his late wife, Nancy Dolman, who died of ovarian cancer in 2010. Having endured so much loss, the comedian said he now understands that “mental health and cancer — like my wife’s — are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases, they are terminal.”

martin short talks poignantly about losing his daughter katherine 🤍 pic.twitter.com/JUfXahwQ4z

— martin short 4ever (@martinhayter_) May 10, 2026

Short explained to interviewer Tracy Smith that Katherine had been struggling for years leading up to her death in February. “My daughter fought 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 said. “So Nan’s [Nancy’s] last words to me were, ‘Mart, let me go,’ and she was just saying ‘Dad, let me go.’”

With a newfound “deep desire” to combat the stigma around mental health, Short got involved with Glenn Close’s nonprofit, Bring Change to Mind. According to the 76-year-old, the organization aims to take “mental health out of the shadows, not being ashamed of it, not hiding from the word suicide, but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness.” Short also dedicated his new documentary film, Marty, Life Is Short, to the memory of Katherine and the beloved Schitt’s Creek actress Catherine O’Hara, his longtime friend who died weeks before his daughter. The documentary is currently available to stream on Netflix.

“The more you accept it, I think, it does lift you and make you feel that this is a complicated little journey, life,” he added. “And the more we approach it with wisdom, probably the happier we’ll be.”