Martin Short has spoken for the first time about the death of his daughter, Katherine Short, describing it as “a nightmare for the family”. Katherine died by suicide in February at her home in the Hollywood Hills. She was 42.
In an interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, the 76-year-old comedian and actor compared his daughter’s death with that of his wife, Nancy Dolman, who died of ovarian cancer in 2010. “The understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal,” Short said. “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 he had a “deep desire” to bring mental health issues “out of the shadows” so people would not be “ashamed” of discussing them. “Not hiding from the word suicide, but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness,” he added.
Katherine was the eldest of three children adopted by Short and Dolman. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender sexuality studies from New York University and a master’s in social work from the University of Southern California, working as a licensed clinical social worker.
Short also spoke of losing several close friends and family in the past year, including his sister-in-law and friends Diane Keaton, Rob and Michele Reiner and Catherine O’Hara. “It’s staggering,” he said. “You just have to breathe in, breathe out.”
