Martin Short explains why he agreed to documentary release after daughter's death
Martin Short wanted the release of Netflix documentary Marty, Life Is Short to go ahead to shine a spotlight on late daughter Katherine's "terminal" struggles with mental health issues.
Martin Short wanted the release of his documentary to go ahead to shine a spotlight on late daughter Katherine's "terminal" struggles with mental health issues.
The Only Murders in the Building is the subject of Lawrence Kasdan’s Netflix special Marty, Life Is Short and after his daughter took her own life in February at the age of 42, the director asked if he wanted the film to be delayed out of respect for Katherine, but Martin was keen to still go ahead with the planned May release.
Martin - whose wife Nancy died in 2010 after a battle with ovarian cancer - told Variety: “We met at his home a few weeks after, and he said, ‘Netflix will do whatever you want and I will do whatever you want.'
“And I thought, this really could be called ‘Love, Loss and Survival.’ As I’ve said in the past, my daughter had mental health struggles. And it’s a disease.
"Some diseases are terminal, whether they’re cancer or mental health. And so, I said, ‘I think we should proceed.’ And he said, ‘I think we should too.’”
Since the film premiered, Martin noted he has heard from many viewers who said they appreciated watching how he had navigated through the losses he experienced.
The 76-year-old actor had plenty of material to share with the director, who he has known for several decades, because he has always documented his family life.
He said: “Through all these years, I’ve always had a camcorder.
"With all my kids, I would just film. And I’d have them transferred to DVD. Because of my relationship and trust with him, I was able to take these shelves of movies and just say, ‘here you go.’”
Friend Steven Spielberg also shared some of his home movies which Martin featured in.
The actor added: “So Larry had a great little treasure trove of stuff."
Marty, Life is Short, is nominated for three Emmy Awards, while Martin himself is up for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Only Murders in the Building and Outstanding Host For A Game Show for Match Game and he's very proud of the recognition.
He said: “Let’s do the cliché, it’s a tremendous honour to be recognised by your peers.
“I am Mr. Emmy this year!”
