Martin Short reveals how daughter’s heartbreaking last words recalled his late wife’s

Martin Short has been through unimaginable grief in recent years, but is now opening up about loss and how he is “trying to head toward the light.” The Only Murders in the Building star’s wife Nancy Dolman, died in 2010 after a battle with ovarian cancer, while earlier in 2026, his daughter, Katherine, died by suicide.

In a New York Times profile published on May 15, 2026, Martin recalled how Nancy told him, “Martin, let me go,” the same words that he heard from Katherine. 

“Katherine was saying: ‘Dad, let me go’,” he said. “I don’t see any difference between mental illness as a disease and cancer as a disease. In some cases, both are terminal. And in some cases, both are survivable.”

“This is your child,” Martin continued. “I am trying to head toward the light.”

© Getty Images

© Getty

The comments came after he admitted the past few months had been a “nightmare” for his family, sharing that his daughter “fought for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she [could] until she couldn’t”.

“If I said to the audience, any audience I was in, ‘How many have lost anyone from suicide?’ you’d be stunned by the hands that would go [up]. ‘How many have mental health in their family?’ You’d be stunned by the hands that would go up,” he shared on CBS Mornings earlier in May. 

“So why pretend that this is your own pain? Maybe by sharing your pain, it will help other people’s pain.”

Martin has been promoting his new documentary, Marty, Life Is Short, which premiered on May 12 on Netflix, offering an intimate look at his life and career and blending archival footage with new interviews to explore both professional highs and personal losses.

The documentary is dedicated to Katherine, as well as Martin’s longtime friend and collaborator Catherine O’Hara, who died on January 30 at the age of 71.

Katherine, and her brothers Oliver and Henry, are the adopted children of Martin and Nancy.

© Getty Images

Katherine worked as a social worker in Los Angeles after receiving her bachelor’s degree from New York University and earning her master’s in social work from the University of Southern California in 2010. She had dedicated her life to helping others, working as a licensed clinical social worker in private practice while also supporting patients through her work with Amae Health, focusing on community outreach, family support groups, peer support and psychotherapy.

Katherine also had a service dog named Joni, after the singer Joni Mitchell. Katherine’s now-deleted website revealed that Joni had been assisting Katharine “with my own struggles with mental illness for the past 5 years”.

© Getty Images

Katherine died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was found in her Hollywood Hills home on Monday, February 23, 2026.

“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,” a rep for Martin told HELLO! “The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”