Dallas Voice has confirmed that Marty Hershner, owner of the Tin Room on Hudnall Street in Oak Lawn, has died. We have few details at this point, but Hershner reportedly was found in his bed at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. Hershner had recently opened a second gay bar, the Drama Room on Cedar Springs Road. He also planned to try to open a bar at the site of Bill’s Hideaway on Buena Vista Street, which closed last year. We’ll have more details on Hershner’s death as soon as they become available. Look for a full obituary in Friday’s Dallas Voice.
34 Comments
SOOO SAD!!! & so SUDDEN!!! I’m dying to know what happened. But my sincerest condolences go out to those who knew or were related to Marty… 🙁
i’m so very sad. marty, thanx for everything…and you will be sorely missed…
Shocking. He was a great guy who knew how to have a good time. We will all miss him.
Thanks for all the mini pizzas, knee slapping laughs, and lots of fun. Rest in peace Marty. Condolences to your Mom and brother.
I love you Marty very much… I’m glad my path led me to you… Without you my struggle to make it would have been impossible… Thank u for the friends and FAMILY that you have
made me apart of…. I will miss you so very much
Very sad! I use to see him walking his dog across the street from me. God Bless and rest in peace.
I will miss him dearly.. HIm and I were great friends and I am sad today… He and I were fast friends when I first moved here and he gave me my first Dallas drag show at the Tin Room…
When he was around you always laughed ….. I will miss him and love him always
Condolences to his Mother and Brother….
xoxox
Jenni P
Marty, you were a live wire and a ball of fun, always knew how to make a boy laugh. Jp, Johnny, and I will miss you dearly old friend, from the old days in the Tin Room (before it became what you helped it grow into), to karaoke and darts at Chesterfields, and to you shaping the Drama Room, making a mark on the strip for you and your family. Pat, Lonzee, I am so very sorry for your loss. Marty was a good man, and an irreplaceable friend in our community. May he rest in peace.
This is such shocking news!!! Marty you will be sooo missed!! My condolences to the family.
Marty i love you! ill never forget all the things you taught me! you’ve really changed my life, and you were the first person that actually believed in me and ill never forget that! we had a lot of fun times you were the funniest guy i knew.and well do everything the way you wanted it! I love you child!
he was such a nice guy! let me shoot my film there for free. what a sad day.
My sincerest condolences go out to his family and the staff at Tin Room and Drama Room (two of my favorite hangouts). Marty was a sweetheart and will be missed! So sorry to hear this news. My thoughts and prayers go out to family and friends. –Bret
I have known Marty for over ten years. I am in shock that he has passed away. He was a great and ambitious man who had a lot more to give to our community. He will definitely be missed. My condolences to his friends and family at the Tin Room and Drama Room. Rest in Peace my friend.
Such a nice guy. And entirely too young to have left us already. My condolences to his mother and his staff.
Marty thanks for the kindness and laughter you gave whenever my friends and I came into the TinRoom to terrorize you !!! I heard the news of your passing from my neighbor, my sincerest and deepest condolences to all who knew you and especially your family. Rest in Peace buddy and look down on us from time to time…
My sincerest condolences to Marty’s family and friends. He was the source of many good times. He’ll be sadly missed.
We will all miss your sense of humor, generosity & contribution for brining great places for us to gather. May you rest in peace.
Brian~
i was one of Marty’s first customers at the tin room. This is very sad. This is the weekend he spent with me and my family and friends in Galveston. Marty you will be missed.
I am so sorry to hear of Marty’s passing. He was a wonderful man, and very gerenous. May he rest in peace. Your Friend Martin
Words can’t express how I feel right now. You were my friend, my boyfriend and one of the most
Important people in my life. Through the good and bad I knew without a doubt that if I needed you would be there. You will always hold a very special place in my heart and I will never forget you. I love you very much!!!!!!!
Very sad news. Way too young to have this happen. My condolences go out to his family.
Marty, you will be truly missed! I love you baby! Always have & always will!
Dude, frogs are supposed to croak not you !!! But hey, thanks for the memories and for making a difference in this twisted city. I know if you’re up there looking down, you’re probably laughing your ass off and planing your next venture.
When Marty approached me with the Idea of decorating The Drama Room I knew it was something
that I had always dreamed of doing. No wonder his vision became a reality. Marty really knew how to dream and how to appreciate and respect talent and the needs and thoughts of others.. i will miss my friend so much. Thanks for involving me in your dreams and your life and may the carry on in Marty’s Name…Love and miss you…our prayers are with your family and everyone that is a friend to Marty ..That’s allot.. come out Sunday night to Lady Bunny to celebrate the life of Marty at The Drama Room
Marty was such a great guy!! I am so sad to hear of his death. Rest in peace good friend. You will be missed by many! My condolences to his family.
My deepest thoughts and prayers go out to the family. will the tin room hold a memorial?
Bye Marty I will miss flirting with you when I come to the neighborhood. I hope you find peace.
Marty was a great guy who would help anybody that needed it. He had a wicked sense of humor and loved to have fun. He revitalized the Dallas nightclub scene when it was at a near stand still, bringing jobs and economic growth to our community. He did some great things in such a short amount of time and knowing Marty, he was just getting started. I’ll always remember Marty because he was honest and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. I knew he supported me 100% no matter what anyone else thought or said. I’ll miss him, but I’m also grateful that I got to know him.
Thanks for everything,
DJ Ronnie Bruno
It’s a sad and shocking week in Dallas for all who knew Marty, and my heart goes out to his friends, family, and employees. My friends and I have many wonderful memories of him and of our times at The Tin Room over the years. I hope we all can keep his spirit alive at both The Tin Room and The Drama Room for a long time.
Ben F brown memorial
friday is the viewing 6 to 9
saturday is funeral at 230
707 macarthur in irving
xoxo
Marty you were my first love….. Thank you for loving me..this is just horribly wrong…I am so proud of the acomplishments u achieved..we always knew u were the responsible one. I am glad we had each other before Tin Room…our daughter Morgan ,we would come home and the Christmas tree would be decorating the floor instead of the tree ..you would get so mad at her for tearing it up, but night after night we would put that tree together again. The nights and days at Judges…..darts /Janis Joplin/Michelle-Kenzi-The Villlage -your Mother and Brother .,,great food getting tipsy ….movies and the best part coming home together. You made my life Amazing. U opened up so many places in my heart and showed me what it meant to be loved..my prayers are with your mother and brother and Michelle And of course with you dear Marty . I don’t know what happened or the circumstances . What I do know is myself and many many others have lost a great man.. Enjoy Heaven….give your Grandmother , my Sister, Jeremy and Brian a hug I know you did not know them too well but I prayed that they would Help show you around ….my heart hurts ….Marty one of the reasons I have a heart Is because the love you gave me ,showed me, and taught me. Rest in Peace. M.H.
Marty was always there to give me a hug when i needed it. He put smiles on many peoples faces. Shared many great jokes along the way and inspired so many. So glad i got to know him. He will truly be missed and is loved. He opened many more doors for the gay community and was going to open more. We all have rough times. Despite what you hear in the media about him and drugs, Marty was still a wonderful person at heart. He cared for his gay community and strived to make it the best around and in a way he did do that. He added his own little flares to it all and made it spectacular. I remember my first time meeting Marty, he had a smile on his face and asked my name and sat down and actually talked to me face to face. Most bar owners you rarely see doing that. Most of the time they stay behind the “SCENE” well not Marty, LOL. he was a part of it and made sure we all were part of it and had a blast.
You are missed dearly Marty, so short a life you lived but a great one at that. At least we know we can rely on you to watch over us now. Thanks for being the friend that everyone could have and one of the best bar owners i have known. I will toast my next drink to you buddy.
GOD BLESS YOU AND REST IN PEACE DEAR ONE.
LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU DEARLY
I just wanted to say that marty was such an amazin and wonderful son, brother, and friend. He truly touched the lives of those around him and was a insipraition to many. He will never be forgotten and will always be remembered for the very special person he was. He may not be with us anymore but you can bet that he is and forever will be a guardian angle for his family and friends . I will truly miss him . My prayers go out to his mom and lonzie . Rest in peace marty and thank you for being my baby sisters first love and best friend in school. You could and would always make us laugh, and you will forever be miss and never forgotten.
Marty was one of my bestfriends and long time friends in school. I remember meeting him ,we were so young, and on the sixth grade dance I didn’t have a date, and he was not open with his sexuality yet, and asked me if he could take me. Me and Marty danced the night away he made me feel very loved and wanted , I am so very very sad by this news. I also met my bestfriend Michelle that night. ohmy, it will take me a long time to get over this loss, he is my first close friend to lose like this. ,Marty if you can hear me, I love you and I never got to tell you thank you for helping me not to feel like an alien among all the preps and others we were just the ones trying to fit inand we found each other. I wish you were still here, I love you , -many many tears-
Dana