The comedian drew a connection between the last words his late wife Nancy Dolman said to him before her 2010 death and their daughter Katherine’s suicide in February.
While speaking with the New York Times Friday, Short recalled Dolman telling him, “Martin, let me go.”
“Katherine was saying: Dad, let me go,” the actor continued. “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.”
Dolman — who tied the knot with Short in 1980 — died of ovarian cancer at age 58.
Along with Katherine, who died at age 42, the pair also shared sons Oliver, 40, and Henry, 36, all of whom they welcomed via adoption.
However, Short, 76, expressed that losing his daughter felt different than his wife’s passing.
“This is your child,” the “Only Murders in the Building” star stated. “I am trying to head toward the light.”
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Short is no stranger to grief, having lost his older brother David in a car accident when he was just 12 years old and his mom to cancer when he was 17.
His father died from complications of a stroke just two years later.
Last weekend, Short got candid on Katherine’s sudden death for the first time.
“It’s been a nightmare for the family,” he told “CBS Sunday Morning.”
Short explained that 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.”
The “Father of the Bride” star added that he felt it was important for him to speak out about the circumstances of Katherine’s death.
“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,” he detailed.
“So why pretend that this is your own pain?” he added. “Maybe by sharing your pain it will help other people’s pain.”
Katherine was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her Hollywood Hills home on Feb. 23.
According to TMZ, police found a suicide note on the scene, though what was written has not been released.
Katherine worked as a social worker and owned a service dog named after folk singer Joni Mitchell to help with “mental illness.”
“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,” a spokesperson for Short confirmed to Page Six at the time.
“The Short family is devastated by this loss, and asks for privacy at this time,” the statement continued. “Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
