This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
Martin Short prompted the wellness check that led to the confirmation that his eldest daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, had died in February, a report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Department reveals.
On Feb. 23, the Emmy-winning actor, 76, asked a friend of his late daughter to check up on her after he hadn’t heard from her in more than 24 hours, according to the report obtained by USA TODAY on May 26. The friend performed a welfare check at her home using a spare key and located a note on her bedroom door, the report added.
The friend then called 911, and authorities later forced entry into the room where they found Katherine Hartley Short dead on her bed.
Comedian Martin Short and daughter Katherine arrives at the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood, Calif. on Feb. 27, 2011.
A representative for Martin Short confirmed Katherine Hartley Short’s death on Feb. 24 in a statement shared with USA TODAY that said: “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.”
The “Father of the Bride” actor shared Katherine Hartley Short and sons Oliver, 30, and Henry, 36, with his wife, Nancy Dolman Short, who died in 2010 from ovarian cancer.
Martin Short: Katherine’s death has been a ‘nightmare for the family’
The “Only Murders in the Building” star opened up about his daughter’s death in an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” that aired on May 10, calling the past recent months “a nightmare for the family.”
“But the understanding that mental health and cancer, like my wife [had], are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases, they are terminal,” he told CBS. “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.”
He added that he wants more people to take “mental health out of the shadows” so that people aren’t “ashamed” of talking about it. “Not hiding from the word suicide, but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness,” he said.
He also discussed the deaths of his brother, mother and father, all of which occurred by the time he was 20.
“I did have an understanding from my childhood [that] the end of life was going to happen to all of us, and [for] some, it’s too early,” he said. “We have to celebrate and be lucky enough [to have] the experiences that we’ve had with them. … Just to think of them, they’ve just gone into the next room for a while.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or visiting 988lifeline.org. Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson and Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Martin Short’s daughter Katherine was found dead after wellness check
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