Martin Short addresses daughter’s tragic death publicly for the first time two months after she took her own life at 42

Martin Short opened up by describing the tragic suicide of his daughter Katherine Hartley Short, 42, less than three months ago as ‘a nightmare for the family’.

Los Angeles Police Department officials confirmed in February that Katherine died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Short, 76, spoke to CBS Sunday Mornings about the family tragedy and compared it to the death of his wife, Nancy Dolman, from cancer in 2010.

‘Understanding [is] “I think mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases and sometimes with diseases they are fatal,” the Bride’s Father told Three Amigos! and Just Murders in the Building.

He continued: ‘My daughter struggled for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder and other things, and did the best she could until she couldn’t.’

A representative for Short confirmed the tragic death in a statement in February.

“It is with deep sadness that we confirm the death of Katherine Hartley Short,” Short’s representative said in a statement. ‘The Short family is devastated by this loss and requests privacy at this time.

‘Katherine was loved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought to the world.’

Katherine was a licensed clinical social worker with a master’s degree from the University of Southern California.

Following his daughter’s tragic death, Short was visited at his Southern California home by peers such as Eugene Levy, Steven Spielberg, Kurt Russell, and Paul Shaffer.

The entertainer appeared on the network to promote his new Netflix documentary Marty: Life Is Short.

Short dedicated the documentary to both Katherine and her late friend and colleague Catherine O’Hara, who died in January at the age of 71.

Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office officials confirmed that O’Hara’s cause of death was the result of a pulmonary embolism; rectal cancer was listed as the underlying cause.

Short’s father, Katherine, and his sons, Oliver Patrick, 39, and Henry Hayter, 36, and his late wife. Short and Dolman were married for 30 years before she died of ovarian cancer in 2010.

O’Brien announced Sunday’s ceremony with ‘We love you, Martin Short!’ He finished by saying. Less than a month after the tragic suicide of Short’s daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, at the age of 42

Short said his late daughter ‘did the best of what she couldn’t do until she couldn’t do it herself’

Short said it was “staggering” to lose her daughter O’Hara and her longtime friends Diane Keaton and Rob and Michele Reiner.

Reflecting on the painful losses, he said: ‘You just have to breathe in, breathe out.’

Speaking about his wife in a 2019 AARP interview, Short described their marriage as a ‘triumph.’

He said: ‘He died in 2010 but I’m still in constant contact with him. It’s “Hey, Nan”, you know? How would he react to this or that decision, especially regarding our three children?’

Short also said that he has never been one of those people who think that death means ‘the end’.

“I believe that when people die, they focus on the people who loved them,” Short said. ‘The idea that this will end and you won’t talk about them is wrong.

‘This is based on the denial that we will all die. So to me he’s still here.’

In his 2014 memoir I Must Say: My Life as a Modest Comedy Legend, Short said that Dolman’s death was “the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Short also benefited from her own experiences while supporting her children who were experiencing the pain of losing their mother.

The night before his wife died, speaking to his youngest child, son Henry, he told him: ‘This will make you stronger. This will make you more determined.’

‘My brother David died first,’ Short told People in Los Angeles on May 7. He was the star of the family.

The entertainer’s new documentary, Life is Short, will be released on Netflix on May 12.

‘Then my mother was diagnosed with cancer at his funeral and died three years later. My father died the year after that.’

Director Lawrence Kasdan said of the documentary: ‘It wasn’t his natural instinct to want this; he is not like that. That’s why I had to sell it. ‘I had to lie to her, tell her how much I loved her and that I would never hurt her.’

Life is Short premieres on Netflix on May 12.

Accordingly a logline from the publisher, ‘Martin Short looks back at a life fueled by joy in this documentary with classic clips, new interviews and star-studded, never-before-seen home movies.’