Martin Short’s frantic last call before daughter Katherine was found dead at 42

Martin Short has been grappling with the death of his daughter, Katherine Short, ever since the 42-year-old died by suicide on February 23. New information has come to light in the months since her passing, following the release of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report.

As per TMZ, the report revealed that Martin had made one last frantic phone call to Katherine’s close friend after not hearing from his daughter in over 24 hours, prompting the friend to perform a wellness check. 

Upon the friend’s arrival at Katherine’s house, the report stated that “multiple notes were located at the scene, believed to have been left” by her, before her friend discovered a missive “posted to the door” and called 911.

After the police forced Katherine’s door open, they discovered her body lying in her bed. She had a well-documented history of mental illness and depression, and her death was ruled a suicide by authorities. 

Martin and his family shared an emotional statement in the wake of her death, which read: “It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short. 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.”

The comedian, who lost his wife, Nancy Dolman, to ovarian cancer in 2010, shared on CBS Sunday Morning that he hoped people would take mental health issues more seriously. 

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“The understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal,” he said. “And my 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.”

“So, [Nancy’s] last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go.’ And what [Katherine] was just saying [was], ‘Dad, let me go.'” The father of three said that he wanted to bring mental health “out of the shadows” so that people weren’t “ashamed” of discussing it.

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“Not hiding from the word suicide, but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness,” he said. Martin has dealt with unimaginable tragedy throughout his life, having lost his father, mother and brother all before the age of 20, and his wife in 2010. 

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“I did have an understanding from my childhood [that] the end of life was going to happen to all of us, and [for] some, it’s too early,” he said on CBS Sunday Morning. “It’s a simple fact that loss is something to negotiate. It’s going to happen to all of us.”

“We have to celebrate and be lucky enough the experiences that we’ve had with them…Just to think of them, they’ve just gone into the next room for a while.” Martin is also a father to sons, Oliver, 30, and Henry, 36, whom he adopted with Nancy.  

If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK  to 741741.