Martin Short: Mental Illness 'Terminal Like Cancer'
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- Martin Short appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, less than three months after his daughter Katherine Hartley Short's death by suicide, calling the experience "a nightmare for the family."
- Short said 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."
- Short revealed that his late wife Nancy Dolman's last words to him were "Martin, let me go," and said his daughter was essentially saying the same thing: "Dad, let me go."
- Short framed mental health and cancer as equivalent diseases, telling CBS, "sometimes with diseases they are terminal" — his wife Nancy died of ovarian cancer in 2010.
- The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a February call at a Hollywood Hills home, which LAPD confirmed was a possible suicide.
- Katherine's family statement to People said they were "devastated" and asked for privacy, calling Katherine "beloved by all."
- Short and Nancy Dolman adopted three children — Katherine, Oliver, and Henry.
Why it matters: Short's CBS interview, delivered less than three months after his daughter's death, puts a major celebrity platform behind the argument that mental illness is a terminal disease deserving the same compassion as cancer. By drawing a direct parallel to his late wife Nancy Dolman's 2010 death from ovarian cancer, Short amplifies a message mental-health advocates have long pushed — and does so with rare emotional candor on a Sunday-morning broadcast.
