Martin Short is opening up about overcoming loss.
In a new profile with The New York Times, the 76-year-old actor went deep on losing his wife Nancy Dolman to ovarian cancer in 2010. He also spoke about his 42-year-old daughter Katherine’s death by suicide earlier this year.
Speaking with the publication, he revealed his late wife’s last words, drawing a connection to his daughter’s mental state before her passing.
Nancy’s Last Words
“Matin, let me go,” Short said of Dolman’s final message to him before her death at age 58. The two met back in 1972, before tying the knot in 1980. They would adopt three children together: Katherine, 40-year-old son Oliver, and 36-year-old son Henry.
Of the connection between Nancy’s words to how his daughter died, he added, “Katherine was saying: Dad, let me go.”
“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,” he continued.
However, he noted there was a difference in how their deaths affected him.
“This is your child. I am trying to head toward the light,” he shared.
Why Martin Short Is So Candid on Grief
His latest comments come after a recent appearance on “CBS Sunday Morning,” during which he shared why he was using his platform to talk about mental health, grief, and loss.
“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,” the actor said during the interview.
“So, why pretend that this is your own pain? Maybe by sharing your pain, it will help other people’s pain,” he continued.
When asked whether speaking about Katherine’s death has been helpful in the healing process, Short said he feels less alone.
“I think whenever you realize you’re not the only person on the planet that’s going through something, I think, you go, ‘Oh, really?’” he shared.
Though he described his daughter’s death as a “nightmare for the family,” he has also approached the situation with a level of understanding.
“But the understanding [is] that mental health and cancer, like my wife’s, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal,” he explained. “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.”
Putting a Spotlight on Mental Health
He also shared that her death has led him to become involved with the Bring Change to Mind organization, which aims to break down the stigma around mental health.
“Taking mental health out of the shadows, not being ashamed of it, not hiding from the word ‘suicide,’ but accepting that this could be the last stage of an illness,” he said.
Before her passing, Katherine worked as a social worker.
Short, meanwhile, is currently promoting his new documentary, “Marty, Life Is Short,” streaming now on Netflix.
