Martin Short has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of his daughter, Katherine Short, in an interview broadcast on CBS Sunday Morning on 10 May 2026. Speaking with emotion but clarity, the Only Murders in the Building star called the loss “a nightmare for the family” and said he hopes to help move mental illness conversations out of the shadows.
Katherine Short, a licensed social worker based in Los Angeles, died in February 2026 at her home in the Hollywood Hills. She was 42. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed the cause of death.
She had been a largely private figure, rarely seen publicly alongside her famous father, and her passing was not widely reported at the time.
What Martin said on ‘CBS’
The interview, which aired on Mother’s Day weekend in the United States, was Short’s first extended public statement on the loss. He drew a direct comparison between mental illness and the cancer that took his wife, Nancy Dolman, in 2010.
“The understanding that mental health and cancer, like my wife, are both diseases,” he said, “and sometimes with diseases, they are terminal.”
Short revealed that his daughter had spent years managing serious mental health conditions.
“She 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 said.
He also referenced his late wife’s final words to him. “Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go,'” Short said. He added:
“What she was just saying was, ‘Dad, let me go.'”
The parallel between the two losses was something Short said he had been processing quietly for months before agreeing to the interview.
The life behind the public persona
Short, 75, has been one of Hollywood’s most enduring comedic presences since his days on Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. He has remained prominent in recent years through his work on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, which he co-leads alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez and which has earned him Emmy nominations and critical acclaim through five seasons.
He has been open in the past about grief, having spoken at length about his wife’s passing in various interviews over the years. But Katherine’s death is a loss he had not previously discussed in public.
Short said he has a “deep desire” to bring conversations about mental health and suicide “out of the shadows,” urging audiences not to feel shame around the language.
“Not hiding from the word suicide,” he said, “but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness.”
The interview has prompted widespread discussion online, with fans and mental health advocates drawing attention to Short’s framing of mental illness as a disease worthy of the same candour and compassion as physical illness.
Short’s CBS interview is expected to increase public discussion around borderline personality disorder and broader mental health awareness in the lead-up to the summer television season.
Only Murders in the Building has not yet confirmed a premiere date for its sixth season, though the show remains in production on Hulu and Disney+.
