Actor Martin Short has opened up about the devastating emotional toll his daughter’s suicide has had on his family.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Short told Tracy Smith on CBS’ Sunday Morning, speaking about the death of his daughter Katherine, who died by suicide in February at the age of 42.
Katherine was one of three children Short, 76, adopted with his late wife, Nancy Dolman, who died of cancer in 2010 after 30 years of marriage.
“So, Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go,’” the actor revealed to Smith about his wife, adding of his daughter: “And she was just saying, ‘Dad, let me go.’”
“Mental health and cancer are both diseases,” Short said, speaking about the loss of his daughter and wife, adding that “sometimes with diseases they are terminal.”
The Only Murders in the Building actor said Katherine “did the best she could until she couldn’t,” noting that she struggled with various mental health issues before her death.
He added that he is now involved with the organization Bring Change 2 Mind, which works to eliminate stigma around mental health and was also supported by his late daughter.
“This can be a last stage of an illness, and that’s my approach to this,” the Canadian comedian said about suicide.
In a trailer for his upcoming Netflix documentary Marty, Life Is Short, the actor reflects on the fact that his most recent losses were not the first in his life, noting that he also experienced the deaths of his parents and younger brother before he turned 20.
Short was 12 when he lost his older brother, David, in a car accident. He was 17 when his mother died of cancer, and three years later, his father died from a stroke.
“In life, sometimes you hit a green light. And sometimes, for no reason, it’s red,” Short says in the trailer.
When asked about grief by Smith on Sunday, the Father of the Bride actor said it had developed in him “a muscle of survival.”
The actor also recalled that his late wife had wanted him to keep working when she became ill. While he said he wasn’t sure if it “helped” him, he added, “people have to do things in difficult times. And the mark of the man is: Can you do it?”
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
