Harry Martin (urologist)

Harry Watson Martin
Dr. Harry Martin and Louella Parsons
Born	16 Jan 1890 Redfield, South Dakota
Died	24 June 1951 Los Angeles
Nationality	US
Occupation	Urologist
Spouse(s)	Sylvia Breamer (1924-1928, divorced) Louella Parsons (m 1930-1951, his death)

Harry Watson Martin (born 16 Jan 1890 in Redfield, South Dakota, died 24 June 1951, age 61, Los Angeles) was a urologist and third husband of Louella Parsons.

Early Years and Education

Harry Martin was the son of Watson Jesse Martin, a dentist, and Annie Amelia Moriarty. He was the younger of two brothers. His paternal grandfather, David D. Martin, was also a physician.^[1][2] Harry Martin graduated from John Marshall High School, Chicago and received his M.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago, June 4, 1912.^[3] He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I.^[4]

Hollywood Physician

Martin moved to Los Angeles in 1919. He was a urologist ^[5] 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.^[6]

Personal

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.^[7] Martin married gossip columnist Louella Parsons, January 4, 1930.^[8] 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.”^[9]

Death

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 cause of the persistent fever from which he died was never 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.^[10] He is interred next to Louella Parsons at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.^[11]

Selected Publications

• Robert V. Day, M.D.; Harry W. Martin, M.D. Diverticula of the Urinary Bladder. Feature Observations. JAMA. 1925;84(4):268-272
• Harry W. Martin. Injuries of the Posterior Urethra. Cal West Med. Jan 1936; 44(1): 16–20.
• Harry W. Martin, M.D.; Rachel E. Arbuthnot, M.D. Spinal Anesthesia. A Review Of More Than Six Thousand Cases In The Los Angeles General Hospital, With Especial Consideration Of Genito-Urinary Operations. JAMA. 1926;87(21):1723-1725.
• Harry W. Martin. Ruptured Bladder—A Method of Diagnosis. Cal West Med. Apr 1932; 36(4): 230–232.
• Robert V. Day, M.D.; Harry W. Martin, M.D. Vesical Diverticulum. A Feature Study. JAMA. 1939;112(6):509-513.
• Robert V. Day and Harry W. Martin. Injuries to The Urinary Organs in Relation to Industrial Accidents. Cal West Med. Jul 1925; 23(7): 849–853.
• Harry W. Martin. Cysto-Urethroscopic Resection of the Prostate. Cal West Med. Feb 1932; 36(2): 76–79.
• Day, R. V., Martin, H. W., Kutzmann, A. A., & Kessler, E. E. (1938). Sex hormone therapy for prostatism. The American Journal of Surgery, 39(1), 100-103.
• Martin, Harry W. "The Treatment Of Bladder Neck Contracture Or Median Bar." The Journal of Urology (1930): 313.

References