Martin Short Describes Daughter's Death as Nightmare for Family

Martin Short said his daughter's death more than two months ago has been a nightmare for the family. Katherine Short died in late February at the age of 42. Law enforcement sources told TMZ that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Short compared mental health challenges to other diseases during the interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning.

"The understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal," he said. He added that his daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health issues, borderline personality disorder and other conditions, and did the best she could.

Katherine Short was one of three children adopted by Short and his late wife. She later worked at a neuropsychiatric hospital affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, and for a dual-diagnosis outpatient program. Short largely stayed out of the public eye immediately after the death, canceling multiple shows on his music and comedy tour with Steve Martin.

The topic came up briefly during an event with David Letterman at the Netflix is a Joke festival last week. Letterman said he has been thinking of Short with sadness lately.

Short experienced multiple family losses in his youth when his older brother, mother and father died within a few years of each other. "There was definitely a period where life changed completely," he said. He indicated that he feels his daughter was conveying a similar message about the terminal nature of some diseases.

The actor is the subject of a Netflix documentary titled Marty, Life Is Short, directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It begins streaming on Tuesday. >The understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal.