Martin Short Still Grieving the Death of Daughter Katherine, But ‘Determined to Bounce Back’

“It’s been a nightmare for the family,” Martin Short simply stated on CBS News Sunday Morning on May 10. The Only Murders in the Building star was opening up publicly for the first time about his daughter Katherine‘s Feb. 23 death by suicide, revealing that the 42-year-old social worker had struggled with borderline personality disorder and other mental health issues for years before she took her own life. “My daughter fought for a long time,” he added, “and did the best she could, until she couldn’t.”

The 76-year-old is showing remarkable resilience in the wake of the tragedy. On May 6, he attended the premiere of his new Netflix documentary Marty, Life Is Short in L.A. with his sons, Oliver, 40, and Henry, 36. (The Canadian star adopted all three of his children with his late wife, Nancy Dolman.) A source tells Star that while the “grief is still very much there” for the actor, he’s “committed to staying strong and moving forward with his life, mainly for the sake of his two sons.” Adds the source: “It speaks volumes about Martin’s selfless nature that he’s thinking of others before himself at a time like this, but that’s just the kind of guy he is.”

Grief & Joy

Martin is no stranger to loss. In addition to Katherine, in 2010, he lost his beloved wife of 30 years to ovarian cancer. When the actor was just 12, his older brother was killed in a car crash. Just three years later, he lost his mother to cancer, followed by his father the next year. “There was definitely a period where life changed completely,” Martin said at the Netflix Is a Joke Festival May 7, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He’d previously said witnessing death at an early age gave him a unique perspective on life. “You learn some sense of priorities. Our whole family took the attitude that if you have wonderful moments, don’t second-guess them, just enjoy them.”

He’s been touched by the outpouring of love from the Hollywood community. “Martin’s one of the true good guys and the love and support he’s received reflects that,” says the source. In early March, for instance, Selena Gomez posted a photo on Instagram of her with Martin and their fellow OMITB costar Steve Martin captioned, per People, “My favorite guys. I’ll always be there for them as they have been for me.” Martin’s OMITB castmate and reported companion Meryl Streep has also been a source of comfort. (They’ve been linked since 2024; both have insisted they’re just friends.) “Meryl is Martin’s rock,” says the source, explaining, “They’re in constant contact. She’s helping him however she can.”

Sad Past

Martin is not the only one mourning Katherine. In a shocking development, her birth mother Kristine Sanz — who was a teen when she placed the baby for adoption — recently spoke out for the first time, telling an insider she’s “heartbroken” over Katherine’s death and describing her attempts to reconnect over the years. (A nurse, she also said she’s set up a GoFundMe because she’s too shell-shocked to work.)

According to the insider, Kristine says she was briefly in touch with Katherine after her 18th birthday, but she alleges that Martin and Nancy hired a security firm to keep her away. (The firm denied her story.) “She was forced to flee from her New York City apartment and go into hiding in 2007 shortly after an L.A.-based security firm — claiming to be working for the funnyman — demanded she stop communicating with Katherine,” says the insider. “Kristine firmly believes Katherine would be alive today if the pair were allowed to develop a mother/daughter relationship.”

Looking Ahead

Now he’s using Katherine’s struggle to spread awareness about mental health issues and take them “out of the shadows,” he told CBS News, saying that he’s carrying on his daughter’s work with Bring Change 2 Mind, Glenn Close‘s mental health organization.

His losses have made him stronger. “I’ve picked up the wisdom that bad things happen, and yet the sun still comes up the next day,” he wrote in his 2014 memoir, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend, per People. Season 6 of OMITB — which takes place in London — is set to return in the fall, and he may head to Broadway with Meryl. He’s also a doting granddad of two. “Martin is determined to bounce back,” says the source. “For the sake of his family more than anything else.”