EXCLUSIVE: Martin Short's Greatest Career Regret Revealed as Grieving Comic Bares Heart About Losing Daughter to Suicide
Martin Short has opened up about his regrets.
May 11 2026, Published 2:00 p.m. ET
Martin Short suffers from crushing career jealousy, which once left him unable to face fellow comic Bill Murray, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 76-year-old Only Murders in the Building star is the subject of the new Netflix documentary Marty: Life Is Short, in which he recalls spiraling into despair during a difficult period in his career while Murray's success was soaring.
Short described his feelings of despair in a new Netflix documentary.
Short suffered from intense career jealousy during a difficult professional period.
Friends close to Short – who is still grieving the devastating losses that have shaped his life, including the suicide of his daughter Katherine earlier this year – told us the comic has been reflecting deeply on fame, mortality, and survival in recent months following Katherine's death at 42 in February after a long struggle with mental illness.
One source said, "Martin has always been brutally honest about failure and insecurity behind the scenes. Losing Katherine forced him to confront every painful chapter of his life all over again."
Another added: "He has had unimaginable heartbreak, but comedy and family have always been the things that kept him moving forward."
Martin Short Recalls Career 'Breakdown Corner' Moment
The comedian lost his daughter Katherine to a long struggle with mental illness.
Speaking in the documentary, Short described reaching what he later called "breakdown corner" while preparing to meet Murray for dinner with his late wife, Nancy Dolman, who died from ovarian cancer in 2010.
He said, "Nancy and I were walking there, and I was just overwhelmed with, 'I can't. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't.'"
Short continued: "I'm out of work now. Hadn't worked in a couple of months. Had no prospects and didn't really know where I was going. And I said, 'I can't go and pretend to be happy for Bill, because I don't know what I'm doing. I need to sit down.'"
The actor – whose credits include Three Amigos, Father of the Bride, and Innerspace – said the moment became a turning point after he and Dolman watched an improvisational comedy troupe called War Babies perform later that night.
He recalled: "We sat there for about 10 minutes and didn't speak. Finally, Nancy said, 'How long are we going to stay here?' I said, 'I don't know.'
"So we went back to the apartment, and I woke up in a funk. And then we saw War Babies, who were an improvisational group. It was so funny. It was fresh. It was inspiring. I felt inspired just witnessing it. It was like the lightbulbs went off: 'Of course, this is what I should do."'
This performance inspired Short to continue his pursuit of a comedy career.
Short said his decades in Hollywood taught him success depends on "talent, luck, and endurance."
He added, "I would say my career has been 80 percent failure, and I would say those are pretty good odds.
"Show business is talent, luck, and endurance. But you can have talent, you can have tenacity. You can take the hits, but if you don't have the confidence to get up there and fail, then you can't do it."
'It's Been a Nightmare for the Family'
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The comic spoke publicly about his family’s nightmare in a CBS interview.
In a separate interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Short spoke publicly for the first time about Katherine's death, describing the impact on his family as "a nightmare."
He said, "It's been a nightmare for the family. But the understanding (is) that mental health and cancer, like my wife's, are both diseases, and sometimes with diseases they are terminal.
"And my daughter fought for a long time with extreme mental health, borderline personality disorder, other things, and did the best she couldn't until she couldn't.
"So, (Nancy's) last words to me were, 'Martin, let me go.' And what she (Katherine) was just saying (was), 'Dad, let me go.'"
Short also revealed he has endured a series of losses in recent months involving close family members and longtime friends, including Diane Keaton, Rob and Michelle Reiner, and Catherine O'Hara.
