Katherine Short, one of the three children adopted by Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short and his late wife, actress Nancy Dolman, has died. She was 42.
“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short,” a rep for Martin Short said in a statement. “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.”
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with the LAPD responding to her Hollywood Hills home shortly after 6:40 p.m. on Monday.
Survivors include her younger brothers, Henry and Oliver.
Born on Dec. 3, 1983, Katherine Short received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and gender sexuality studies from NYU in 2006 and her master’s in social work from USC in 2010.
According to her website, she later worked at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and for the dual-diagnosis outpatient program Camden Center. She was said to be involved in a charity called Bring Change 2 Mind, which aims to “empower young people to build connected, empathetic and supportive school communities where conversations about mental health are welcome and stigma-free.”
Short and Dolman first met in 1972 when they worked together on a production of Godspell, and they married in 1980. Dolman died in August 2010 after a battle with ovarian cancer, after which Short told The Guardian: “It’s been a tough two years for my children. This is the thing of life that we live in denial about, that it will ever happen to us or our loved ones, and when it does you gain a little and you suffer a little. There’s no big surprise.”
Short is on a two-man comedy and music tour with Martin, and a show scheduled for Friday at the Miller High Life Theatre in Milwaukee and two shows set for Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis have been postponed.