Martin Short has spoken publicly for the first time about his daughter’s death at age 42 following a long mental health battle.
Katherine Short, the comedy legend‘s eldest child with his late wife Nancy Dolman, died by suicide in February.
“It’s been a nightmare for the family,” the Only Murders in the Building star told CBS Sunday Morning in a new interview.
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“But the understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal.
“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.”
Katherine’s death came 16 years after her mother Dolman, a Canadian actress and singer, died of ovarian cancer.
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She and Short were married for 36 years and adopted three children – daughter Katherine and sons Oliver and Henry.
“Nan’s last words to me were, ‘Martin, let me go,'” the actor added in the interview.
“And [Katherine] was just saying, ‘Dad, let me go.'”
In February, Short and his family confirmed Katherine’s death in a statement, saying she was “beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”
“The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time,” they added.
The Hollywood icon has endured numerous cruel losses from a young age.
Short was just 12 when his eldest brother David was killed in a car accident.
Five years later, his mother died of cancer, having been diagnosed during her son’s funeral, and his father died of a stroke two years after that.
Short was an orphan by the age of 20.
“I think the reason all that didn’t throw me sideways was because I had such a solid foundation,” he told The Guardian in 2012.
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