Martin Short: Family, tour and mental-health groups reeling after daughter Katherine’s death at 42

Who feels the immediate impact is clear: a family asking for privacy, a two-man comedy tour suddenly uncertain, and local mental-health practitioners grappling with the loss of a colleague. The actor martin short’s eldest daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, has died at 42; the family says they are devastated and will remember her for the light and joy she brought into the world.

Martin Short’s circle and the tour face an immediate ripple

The death lands amid a live schedule: martin short is currently on a two-man tour with Steve Martin, with shows scheduled for Friday in Milwaukee and Saturday in Minneapolis. Theater staff have said it is unclear whether those performances will take place. The family has asked for privacy at this time. The news also follows a recent public tribute martin short paid to a longtime friend who passed away last month.

What is known about Katherine Short’s death

Katherine Hartley Short, 42, was found deceased at her Hollywood Hills home on Monday evening. Law enforcement and fire department personnel responded shortly after 6: 40 PM PT and located her; the death has been described as self-inflicted, the result of a gunshot wound. A family representative confirmed her passing and described the family as devastated, asking for privacy while saying Katherine was beloved and would be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world. An embedded TikTok post in early updates appeared as pending permission.

Katherine Short’s life, work and family background

Katherine worked as a social worker in Los Angeles. Her academic record includes a 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. She worked in private practice as a licensed clinical social worker and part-time at a clinic providing community outreach, peer support and psychotherapy. She was involved with a nonprofit referenced as Bring Change To Mind (also written Bring Change 2 Mind in some mentions) that focuses on mental-health stigma.

She was the eldest of three children adopted by her parents, Martin Short and Nancy Dolman. Katherine’s younger brothers are named Henry and Oliver. Nancy Dolman first met Martin Short while working together on a production of Godspell in 1972; they married in 1980. Dolman was Martin Short’s wife for 30 years and died of ovarian cancer in 2010 at the age of 58. In a past reflection, martin short described the years that followed her death as difficult. Katherine largely kept out of the public eye, attending only a few events with her father; she was last seen in January 2020 outside Craig’s, a noted restaurant in West Hollywood.

Immediate resources and crisis contacts

• United States: Call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
• United Kingdom and Ireland: Samaritans freephone 116 123; email jo@samaritans. org or jo@samaritans. ie.
• Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14.

• Here’s the part that matters: the family’s request for privacy and the uncertainty about scheduled performances are the two practical developments the public will likely see first.
• Local mental-health groups and Katherine’s colleagues will feel the professional impact immediately, given her clinical and outreach roles.
• Expect theater staff and ticketing channels to issue confirmations or cancellations in the coming days; those notices will confirm how the tour proceeds.
• Confirming details about the death scene, timelines and any official statements remains ongoing and may evolve.

What’s easy to miss is how many different communities this touches at once — family, live-performance audiences, and mental-health peers — each with distinct practical needs in the days ahead. The real question now is how quickly venues and representatives will clarify the status of the scheduled shows and how the family’s request for privacy will be balanced with public interest.

Note on uncertain items: some early updates listed a slightly different time for when Katherine was discovered; the uncontested detail in the provided material is that responders arrived shortly after 6: 40 PM PT on Monday and found her deceased. Additional specifics from active inquiries may be released later; those details may evolve.