Beyond the Spotlight: Katherine Short’s Legacy of Compassion and the Grief Left in Her Wake
In a moment that has left Hollywood quietly heartbroken, the family of beloved comedian and screen legend Martin Short has confirmed the devastating passing of his daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, at the age of 42. In a statement shared exclusively with PEOPLE, the family wrote with unmistakable sorrow: “The Short family is devastated by this loss and asks for privacy at this time. Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”
On the evening of Monday, February 23rd, at 6:41 p.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call from a residence in the Hollywood Hills — a quiet neighbourhood perched above the city’s glitter, where so many private stories unfold behind closed doors. The Los Angeles coroner confirmed that Katherine died by suicide. The circumstances, as later reported by TMZ, detailed that first responders arrived to find the situation beyond their immediate reach — a detail that renders the tragedy all the more unbearable.
Katherine was not a face of the red carpet, nor did she seek the warmth of the spotlight that so naturally follows her father. She was, in the truest sense, a woman of substance and service. Adopted by Martin and his cherished late wife, Nancy Dolman — who passed from ovarian cancer in 2010 after thirty years of marriage — Katherine built her life around compassion. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender sexuality studies from New York University in 2006, followed by a master’s in social work from the University of Southern California in 2010.
Her professional life was a quiet testament to empathy: a licensed clinical social worker in private practice, she also dedicated herself part-time to Amae Health, offering community outreach, psychotherapy, family support groups, and peer support. She spent her days holding space for others navigating their darkest chapters — a profound and poignant detail that makes her loss feel all the more shattering.
She is survived by her father and two brothers — Oliver Patrick, 39, and Henry Hayter, 36 — all adopted children of Martin and Nancy, a family woven together by love and now bound together by grief.
