Harry Watson Martin was a urologist and third husband of Louella Parsons. Harry Martin was the son of Watson Jesse Martin, a dentist, and Annie Amelia Moriarty. He was the youngest of two brothers. Harry Martin graduated from John Marshall High School, Chicago and received his M.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I. Martin moved to Los Angeles in 1919. He was a urologist who specialized in the treatment of venereal disease. He became medical director of Twentieth Century Fox studios in 1937. He performed abortions and dispensed stimulant drugs to the actors, as needed, to keep them alert while films were being shot. In 1924 Martin married actress Sylvia Breamer. She divorced him in 1928, complaining that he failed to return home for meals and treated her with complete indifference. Martin married gossip columnist Louella Parsons, January 4, 1930. She called him "Docky." Martin's heavy drinking was legendary. On one occasion he passed out on the floor at a party. When a guest pointed him out to Parsons, she replied, "Let Docky sleep. He has to operate in the morning." Martin died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital of a tropical ailment contracted while he served in the South Pacific with the Army Medical Corps during the Second World War. He had been a hospital patient for several weeks, and had been in a coma for a few days. The persistent fever from which he died never was diagnosed, although he visited many noted clinics and consulted specialists. With him at his death were his wife and her daughter, Harriet Parsons, a motion-picture producer
Harry Watson Martin was a urologist and third husband of Louella Parsons. Harry Martin was the son of Watson Jesse Martin, a dentist, and Annie Amelia Moriarty. He was the youngest of two brothers. Harry Martin graduated from John Marshall High School, Chicago and received his M.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I. Martin moved to Los Angeles in 1919. He was a urologist who specialized in the treatment of venereal disease. He became medical director of Twentieth Century Fox studios in 1937. He performed abortions and dispensed stimulant drugs to the actors, as needed, to keep them alert while films were being shot. In 1924 Martin married actress Sylvia Breamer. She divorced him in 1928, complaining that he failed to return home for meals and treated her with complete indifference. Martin married gossip columnist Louella Parsons, January 4, 1930. She called him "Docky." Martin's heavy drinking was legendary. On one occasion he passed out on the floor at a party. When a guest pointed him out to Parsons, she replied, "Let Docky sleep. He has to operate in the morning." Martin died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital of a tropical ailment contracted while he served in the South Pacific with the Army Medical Corps during the Second World War. He had been a hospital patient for several weeks, and had been in a coma for a few days. The persistent fever from which he died never was diagnosed, although he visited many noted clinics and consulted specialists. With him at his death were his wife and her daughter, Harriet Parsons, a motion-picture producer
Gravesite Details
Buried next to Louella Parsons.
Family Members
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