The Melsheimer Marriage Incident

Married 1967.

Divorced 1977.

Weird on many levels.

Harold L. Melsheimer

• 11 June 1927 - Born in Germany to Louis and Hella Leonie Melsheimer (née Schwehr)
• 1954 - Graduated
• 21 April 1956 - Married Marie Carlson
• 18 July 1960 - reported to have had a daughter at the West Valley Community hospital ( Valley Times , North Hollywood, p.18)
• Before Jan 1966 - Engaged to Sharon Lee
• 27 Nov 1967 - Married Sabrina
• 1977 - Divorced Sabrina
• In or before 2002 - Retired
• In or before 2004 - Married Bettye Jean
• May 2015 - Died

21 April 1956 - Arlington, South Dakota. Reported in the Argus-Leader , Sioux Falls on 22 April 1956. Read the full article .

Miss Marie Carlson married Dr. Harold L. Melsheimer .

Her bridegroom, who received his degree In medicine from the University of Marburg in Germany is serving a one-year Internship at St. Mary's Long Beach Hospital, and In June will assume a residency in Honolulu, Hawaii in obstetrics and gynecology with Queen's Hospital.

19 January 1966 - Republican and Herald (Pottsville, Pennsylvania)

Bit of melodrama at the Troubadour. Actress Sharon Lee , who broke her engagement to Dr. Harold Melsheimer (they'll see each other occasionally) showed up with Sonny Tufts .

Suddenly, they were joined by Dr. Melsheimer .

Sharon went to the ladies' room, cut out and left both guys sitting there...

10 March 1966 - Wilkes-Barre Times Leader

After breaking up once with Dr Harold Melsheimer , actress Sharon Lee flew to San Francisco with him just to celebrate her birthday dinner at the Top of the Mark .

The doctor gave her a diamond wrist watch.

It seems Dr Melsheimer had a type for his companions. Sharon and Sabrina were well known to each other, even if he claimed he had never heard of Sabrina before marrying her..

14 September 1967  -  New Castle Pennsylvania News  (ref 57439227) and 11 Sep 1967 - Wilkes-Barre Times Leader

Behind the scenes in Hollywood - by Harrison Carroll

ACTRESS Sabrina denied to me that she is even engaged but I keep hearing that  Dr Harold Melsheimer  gave her a big ring and that the two may be married very soon.

He and Sabrina just started dating recently. Before that, she was seen mainly with scenarist  Abby Mann .

26 September 1967  -  New Castle PA. News , p.6

At  Abbey Mann's  party for house-guest  Arthur Miller , the playwright,  Sabrina  was with  Dr. Harold Melsheimer .

1 November 1967 - Republican and Herald (Pottsville, Pennsylvania)

FORGET THOSE wedding plans of actress Sabrina and Dr. Harold Melsheimer.
Sabrina admited to me that she tore up the marriage license they took out.
"I still see him," she said,"but the marriage just didn't figure to be a success.

I spend part of my time in London. I couldn't expect him to leave his practice and accompany me there."

21 November 1967

Aged 31, Sabrina marries  Dr Harold Ludwig Melsheime r , a wealthy Hollywood ob-gyn in LA. They settle down in Encino, CA. Sabrina continues occasional film, television, theatre and nightclub appearances. As she later said in an interview with me, "Who would've thought I'd marry a German?"

She quits showbusiness and eases back into an opulent married life, complete with a 40ft yacht, sports cars, mink stoles and Hollywood parties. Her Doberman Pinscher has its own bedroom and bathroom.

1 December 1967  -  Daily Mirror

SABRINA IS A BRIDE

SABRINA, the blonde English showgirl with the voluptuous figure, is married, it was revealed last night.

Her husband, Dr. Harold Mellsheimer [sic], 32, is a Hollywood surgeon, who owns a luxury home with a swimming pool.

Sabrina told her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Sykes, about the wedding in an early-morning phone call. "Guess what," she said, "I've just got married."

Mrs. Ann Sykes of [72] Chislehurst Avenue, Blackpool, said: "I wasn't a bit surprised, because last time Sabrina rang she said she thought she might be getting married."

She added: "Sabrina and her husband have been friends for some time."
Sabrina, 29, told her mother: "He's tall, dark and handsome. I know that sounds corny, but it's the only way to describe him. We're very much in love."

7 October 1968 - The Los Angeles Times , p.150

This may be spurious, but the LA Times reported that:

Home Burglarized

VAN NUYS - Burglars took two beds, a refrigerator and other items valued at $2,430 from the home of Sabrina Melsheimer at 5432 Calhoun Ave., police reported Sunday.

Note: Calhoun Avenue is just a bit down Ventura Freeway from both Woodland Hills (see 1 August above) and West Toluca Lake , other addresses attributed to Sabrina.

11 February 1971 - The Stage p.4 - Thursday

BLACKPOOL'S own dumb blonde, Sabrina of stage and screen fame, has abandoned her showbiz career to become a full-time housewife.
Now she is married to an American gynaecologist, Dr. Harry Melsheimer, and runs their magnificent home in the Beverley Hills district of Hollywood. Her mother. Mrs. Ann Sykes who still lives at Blackpool, reveals that "Sabby" now 32 completely changed her image when she went to the States in 1966. She had leading roles in a number of major stage productions including "Rattle of a Simple Man" which enjoyed a long run in the film capital.
Sabrina maintains close links with Blackpool and her parents spent a long Californian holiday with their daughter and her hubby about a year ago

15 October 1975 - News-Pilot (San Pedro CA)

BOAT NAME CHANGE

Notice is hereby given that an order dated 7 October 1975 has been issued by the undersigned authorizing the name of the oil screw SABRINA official number 542 136 owned by Harold Melsheimer of which Los Angeles-Long Beach, is the home port, to be changed to:
FANTASIA

J. E. SMITH
Marine Documentation Assistant
United States Coast Guard
Los Angeles-Long Beach,
California
Pub.: Oct. 11,13,14,15,1975.

7 October 1977 - News-Pilot (San Pedro California)

BOAT NAME CHANGE

Notice is hereby given that an order dated September 3, 1977 has been issued by the under-signed authorizing the name of the oil screw FANTASIA official number 542 198 owned by Harold Melsheimer of which Los Angeles Long Beach, is the home port, to be changed to:
SABRINA

E. McCANN
Marine Documentation Officer, United States Coast Guard
Los Angeles-Long Beach,
California
Pub.: Oct. 7, 8, 10, 11, 1977

He changed the boat's name from Sabrina to Fantasia in 1975 - and now, around the time of the divorce, he's changing it back to Sabrina . Odd indeed!

1977 (exact date unknown) - Sabrina and Dr Harry's rocky ten-year marriage ends in divorce, acrimoniously.

From an undated newspaper, probably 1977, but if Sabrina's reported age is 38, she's still hiding 3 years. She would be 41.

Note: The text in [square brackets] are missing or deduced.

IS SABRINA'S MARRIAGE ON THE ROCKS?

REFORTS from America claim that Sabrina, the blonde bombshell from the 'fifties, is breaking up with her husband, wealthy, German-born gynaecologist, Dr, Harold Melsheimer.

Born Nurma Sykes in Stockport, Cheshire, she was given the name Sabrina by comedian [Arthur Askey... the rest of the column is missing]
an overnight success and went on to become an international cabaret star. She married Dr. Melsheimer in 1967.

They lived in a luxurious Californian mansion with four bathrooms and a swimming pool — even her dog had its own bedroom with a bathroom en suite.

[Sabrina, 38, spent ...] driving a fast sports car, but recently is reported by have moved into a small flat on her own.

Dr Melsheimer's personal secretary said: "He does not wish to discuss his affairs, but he has no idea of the whereabouts of his wife. He has neither... her..."

---

sabrina- Well, Harold Melsheimer never had any sense of humour. I couldn't believe I ended up marrying a German.

me- It said in one article that you were attracted to him because he didn't know who you were. Was that important to you?

s- I think, maybe I've always been attracted to people who didn't know who I was.

m - You just liked being the average girl?

s- Maybe, ya. In fact I know that when I was doing my scrapbook - it was when I was married to Melsheimer - he never even bothered looking at them. I'd be thinking "That's nice what I've done"

m - And he wasn't interested in that?

s- I don't think so, no. I know he didn't want me to be in the theatre. He destroyed all my music which I'd paid - all my charts from my nightclub act - which cost me about 25,000 dollars, or pounds, whatever. He destroyed them all.

m - Why did he do that?

s- Because he didn't want me to work.

m- Did you have many offers in your married days?

s- I didn't look for it. People would- I was- I seemed to have had enough. I don't know. I just lost interest.