Martin Short's Dark Family Secret — Mother of Adopted Daughter Comic Lost to Suicide Speaks Out
Martin Short's Dark Family Secret — Mother of Adopted Daughter Comic Lost to Suicide Speaks Out
Aaron Johnson Mon, May 11, 2026 at 10:52 AM UTC
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Martin Short's family secret emerges as adopted daughter's mother has spoken out after her suicide.MEGA
The tragic suicide of Martin Short's adopted daughter, Katherine Short, has devastated her biological mother, who exclusively told RadarOnline.com she was harassed and intimidated by a group of goons nearly 20 years ago after briefly reconnecting with the daughter she gave up as a teenager.
A terrified Kristine Sanz said she was forced to flee her New York City apartment and go into hiding in 2007 shortly after a Los Angeles-based security firm – claiming to be working for the funnyman – demanded she stop communicating with Katherine, who took her own life at age 42 on Feb. 23.
Heartbroken Mom Believes Daughter Could’ve Survived
Kristine Sanz said Martin Shorts' adopted daughter, Katherine Short, may have reached out before her death, citing a 2025 Christmas card as a possible sign.Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / MEGA
Speaking out for the first time, the heartbroken 63-year-old mom said Katherine may have tried to reach out to her before committing suicide, and Sanz believes Katherine would be alive today if the pair was allowed to develop a mother-daughter relationship.
"I feel that she wanted to know me," Sanz said, referring to a mysterious Christmas card she received in 2025 signed with a question mark. "She'd be alive today if I were in her life. I might have been able to maybe help her."
Sanz grew up in the Massachusetts foster care system, and as an emancipated 17-year-old, she moved to NYC to work as a housekeeper in Englewood, N.J., for acclaimed actress Renee Taylor.
When Sanz became pregnant, she claimed Taylor "put a lot of pressure on me to give the baby up" or lose her job. But the Oscar-nominated screenwriter denied the allegations and said Sanz voluntarily participated in the adoption process.
"She [Sanz] asked me to adopt the baby," said the 93-year-old, who starred in The Producers and the sitcom The Nanny. "And I said no, I couldn't, and I said I would find a good home for the baby."
Renee Taylor denied pressuring Sanz over the adoption, saying Martin Short and Nancy Dolman provided a good home.K Thatcher / MEGA
"Through a lawyer I told her these are the people who are interested [in adopting Katherine], and she picked one and they adopted the baby and gave her a very good home, a good upbringing," Taylor said about Father of the Bride star Short and his wife, Nancy Dolman, who in 2010 died of ovarian cancer at age 58. "I'm sorry that she blames me for what happened to her daughter."
Katherine was about 2 months old when Sanz handed her off inside a midtown Manhattan office building after signing a series of documents.
The regretful mom reached out to Katherine in 2006 when she was over 18 because "I didn't want so many years to go by, and I thought that if she was open to any type of relationship, I would reach out to her while she was a young adult and not wait until she was older."
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But the short-lived relationship came to a halt when Sanz claimed she received a one-page letter from Screen International Security Services (SISS), a firm founded by a self-proclaimed former Israeli military soldier that protects high-profile Hollywood clients.
A 2007 letter allegedly tied to the Short family ordered Sanz to stop contacting Katherine.Joe Russo / MEGA
"We are the security consultants to the Short family, and it is in this capacity that we have become involved in this matter," states the Jan. 2, 2007, letter from John Levy, a senior VP for investigations, ordering her to "stop all attempts of communication" with Katherine.
Avi Korein, president and CEO of SISS, denied the story, saying: "SISS was never hired to harass anyone, nor have we ever been accused of such. We never had an employee by the name of John Levy, as a Senior VP of Investigations or in any other capacity."
After receiving the letter, Sanz said her life was turned upside down when a squad of burly goons allegedly established a 24-hour surveillance operation outside her Manhattan apartment building.
"They were following me constantly," claimed Kristine, who recalls the time she had to take the service elevator and scale a back courtyard wall to make a getaway. "It was awful. I ran away from the apartment it was so bad. I couldn't even leave my house."
Following Katherine's death, Sanz said she spent years monitoring her daughter's life from afar.MEGA
Former neighbor Jose Nivaldo Pereira, who still lives in the building, recalls the months-long reign of terror that began shortly after the goons knocked on his door with a picture of Sanz. "She was deathly afraid that they were going to do something to her," he said.
It's unknown who hired the goons or whether they were affiliated with SISS, but Sanz is convinced it was related to Katherine.
"I don't know how much money they spent, but someone paid them to tag me, intimidate me, for sure," she said. "And it worked because I couldn't fight [them]."
Sadly, the panic-stricken Sanz spent the next 20 years using the internet to lovingly spy on Katherine, who became an L.A. social worker after earning her bachelor's degree from New York University and a master's from the University of Southern California.
Sanz, a registered nurse, said her heart was ripped out of her chest after learning about Katherine's death, and she set up a GoFundMe page because she's too shell-shocked to work.
"I was devastated," she said. "I just wish I could have apologized to Katherine. Before anyone, I'm the first to blame. I had no idea she was in such anguish."
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
