Martin Short opens up about the ‘horrendous’ death of his daughter Katherine | TV comedy

Martin Short has spoken out for the first time about the death of his daughter, Katherine Short, saying her death has been “tough on the family”.

Katherine died in February at the age of 42, at his home in the Hollywood Hills. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed that she died by suicide.

Still talking CBS News Sunday MorningThe 76-year-old actor and actress compared his daughter’s death to that of his wife, Nancy Dolman, who died of ovarian cancer in 2010 at the age of 58.

“Understanding (is) that mental health and cancer, like my wife, are both diseases, and sometimes diseases are incurable,” Short said. “And my daughter fought for a long time with very good health, borderline disease, other things, and she did everything she could, until she failed.

“So, Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, leave me alone.’ And what (Katherine) kept saying (was), ‘Father, let me go.'”

Short said he had a “great desire” to take “mental health out of the shadows” so people wouldn’t feel “embarrassed” about talking about it.

“Not to hide the word suicide, but to accept that this may be the last stage of the disease,” he said.

Short also talked about losing several close friends and family in the past year, including his mother-in-law, daughter and friends. Diane Keaton, Rob and Michele Reiner and Catherine O’Hara.

“It’s amazing,” he said, adding: “You just have to breathe, breathe.”

Katherine was the eldest of three children adopted by Short and Dolman. She is rarely seen, although she sometimes attends events and walks the red carpet with her father. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender studies from New York University in 2006, and a master’s in social work from the University of Southern California in 2010, and continued to work independently as a clinical worker.

Short previously commented on losing Dolman, told the Guardian in 2012: “This is something in life that we deny, that it will happen to us or our loved ones, and when it grows up you will gain a little and suffer a little.

Short spoke to CBS ahead of the premiere of the new Netflix movie about his life called Marty, Life Is Short, which premieres on May 12. The documentary deals with Short’s experiences with death as a child: his older brother David died in a car accident when Short was 12, and both of his parents died when he was still a teenager.

Short said this gave him “the muscle to survive and deal with grief and perspective”, as well as the courage to be a musician: “I think if you’ve been through it, the audience that doesn’t like you doesn’t matter.”