Martin Short Breaks Silence on Daughter Katherine's Passing Nearly 3 Months After the Loss

The legendary comedian has opened up about losing his daughter Katherine nearly three months after her passing, drawing a heartbreaking parallel between mental illness and the cancer that took his late wife.

He has made the world laugh for decades, but Martin Short has been carrying a grief far heavier than anything his public persona lets on.

Nearly three months after the loss of his daughter Katherine Hartley Short, the beloved comedian has finally spoken publicly about her death.

Martin, 75, sat down with "CBS Sunday Morning" on May 10 to promote his new Netflix documentary, "Marty: Life Is Short," but the conversation quickly turned deeply personal.

He addressed the tragedy head-on, framing his daughter's death within the context of illness — the same lens through which he had viewed the loss of his wife, Nancy Dolman, who died of ovarian cancer in 2010 after a 30-year marriage.

"You know, it's been a nightmare for the family, but the understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife, are both diseases. And sometimes with diseases, they are terminal," he said.

He went on to paint a picture of a daughter who had fought quietly and courageously for years. "And 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," he added.

In a moment that left many viewers undone, Martin drew a parallel between Katherine's final struggle and Nancy's last words to him. "So Nan's last words to me were, 'Mart, let me go.' And she was just saying, 'Dad, let me go.'"

The weight of those words landed hard with those who watched. "Mental health is I think the worst struggle," one viewer mourned. "Such a sad tragedy," another grieved quietly.

"I have no words..." a third admitted, while another confessed, "Broke my heart to hear this." And perhaps most achingly, "So horribly sad for parents to loose children, it's just unimaginable😭 [sic]," one wept.

Katherine died on February 23 at her Hollywood Hills home. She was 42. LAPD officers and Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters responded to the scene shortly after 6:40 PM PT, after a friend called police — having not heard from Katherine in 24 hours.

Officers found her behind a locked bedroom door and had to force their way in. A note was discovered nearby, along with a gun. Homicide detectives also responded and ruled out foul play.

Her death was officially ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office, with her L.A. County Department of Public Health death certificate confirming she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A representative for the family released a statement confirming the loss:

"It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short. The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world."

A close friend of Katherine's told authorities that her behavior in the days leading up to her death had seemed entirely normal, with no visible signs of distress.

A neighbor who had lived near her for over a decade echoed the sentiment, telling Us Weekly that she gave "no indication of struggle" before her death, adding that depression is often a silent and hidden killer.

Despite her father's towering public profile, Katherine largely stayed out of the spotlight. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology and Gender Sexuality Studies from New York University in 2006, before going on to complete her master's degree in social work at the University of Southern California.

She worked in several psychiatric hospitals and outpatient programs serving veterans, low-income families, and foster youth before opening her own private practice as a licensed clinical social worker in Los Angeles. She was also actively involved with Bring Change 2 Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to erasing the stigma surrounding mental health.

Katherine had been open about her own mental health battles in her professional life. On her since-deleted website, she wrote about her service dog, Joni — named after singer Joni Mitchell — who had assisted her with her own struggles with mental illness for five years.

Her private practice listed numerous areas of specialisation, including anxiety, psychotic disorders, and borderline personality disorder — conditions she understood not only as a clinician, but personally.

Neighbors in her Hollywood Hills community remembered her warmly — as a voracious reader who loved nonfiction, a festive decorator who hung a Canadian flag year-round, and a woman who always had a wave and a smile for those who passed by.

She was the eldest of Martin's three adopted children. He and Nancy also adopted sons Oliver, 39, and Henry, 36.

The grief Martin now carries is not new to him. He lost his older brother in a car accident when he was just 12, and both of his parents while still a teenager. When asked how those early losses shaped him, he reflected, "What it developed in me was this muscle of survival and handling grief and a perspective on it."

That resilience, he said, also gave him a kind of fearlessness on stage. "I think if you've gone through that, an audience not liking you is really not that important anymore."

He also recalled the impossible act of continuing to work while Nancy battled cancer in her final months — traveling to film the drama series "Damages," stepping off set just long enough to collect himself before carrying on. "You know, that's what you have to do," he said.

When asked what he tells himself in those moments, his answer was simple and unflinching. "I just — you head to the light."

The documentary Martin is now promoting is dedicated to Katherine — a tribute from a father doing the only thing he knows how: moving forward, and bringing the people he has lost along with him.