Netflix’s documentary “Marty, Life is Short,” ends with a photo of his daughter posing with Catherine O’Hara — a halting way to let the title sink in for the viewer.
It also serves as a reminder of the loss Martin Short has faced over the last seven months: the deaths of his good friends Diane Keaton, Rob and Michele Reiner, Catherine O’Hara and his daughter Katherine Elizabeth Short.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Short said in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
In February, his daughter died by suicide at the age of 42 in her Hollywood Hills home.
“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.”
Short said he’s now trying to help others suffering from the disease by getting involved in Glenn Close’s organization “Bring Change to Mind,” a non-profit that is trying to end the stigma associated with mental illness through education.
“Taking mental health out of the shadows, not being ashamed of it, not hiding from the word suicide but accepting that this can be the last stage of an illness,” Short said.
The Netflix film explores Short’s life before these most recent tragedies, showing the foundation he built to help him get through them.
It offers an intimate look at the comedian’s career and family through his own words, home videos, and interviews with many of his closest friends.
Here are three things to look out for while streaming the new documentary, out Tuesday.
“Marty, Life is Short,” might make viewers cry with laughter and sob with sorrow.
Short opens up to director and friend Lawrence Kasdan about his family’s history of death, dating back to age 12 when his older brother David died in a car accident.
Short recounted hearing the news put very bluntly while at camp: “The counsellor came up and said ‘Your brother has been in an accident and it killed him,’” to which Short said he replied, “Is he ok?” and the counsellor said, “No, it killed him.”
Short’s mother would die six years later. Unbeknownst to him, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. After her death, the Hamilton-born star said in the film his father’s health slowly started to deteriorate.
He suffered from arteriosclerosis, a disease that gradually hardens the arteries, and died of complications from a stroke two years later, when Short was 20 years old.
Throughout these tragic moments Short held on tightly to his siblings Nora, Brian and Michael. During the film, while speaking with this brother Michael, he joked about those eight terrible years.
“We had a speed dial to the funeral parlour.”
Later, cancer would once again take someone from his life — his wife Nancy Dolman. She was diagnosed in 2007 and died three years later.
Short shared his advice to prevent grief from taking over.
“Never let them go, that’s the secret, then they are always in your life.”
Set against the backdrop of this tragedy, the documentary explores Short’s joyful presence on screen, from “SCTV” to “Three Amigos” and “Father of the Bride.”
It also shows the mark he left on his close friends, through home movies shot by Short and Steven Spielberg — from cottage moments in Muskoka’s Snug Harbour, to Christmas sing-a-longs and outdoor barbecues.
His famous friends are seen through the lens in private moments: Tom Hanks is jumping off a boat with Short into the water, Goldie Hawn is dancing the night away, Kurt Russell is sitting on a Muskoka chair sunbathing, Paul Shaffer is playing the piano, Eugene Levy and O’Hara are hanging out and having fun.
O’Hara is also interviewed for the documentary, both solo and sitting beside her good friend, laughing over memories of working together over the decades.
At 76 years old, the comedian puts any talk of retirement to rest.
“I can’t ever imagine stopping.”
As the film concludes, his friends praise the Canadian icon, with Hanks looking back at Short’s career and saying he operates at the speed of joy, while Levy declares there is “nobody funnier.”
When Short looks back at his own journey he knows that people have smiled every step of the way.
“I’d like to think I was the best version of myself on the last day of my life,” Short said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2026.
