Harry L. Lewis (April 1, 1920June 9, 2013) was a
supporting actor in films and was the founder, along with his wife Marilyn, of the
Hamburger Hamlet restaurant chain.
Biography
Lewis was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 1, 1920. His first film role was as a flagman in ''
Dive Bomber'' (1941). He was immediately put under contract to
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, at which he made several films. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Edward "Toots" Bass, one of
Edward G. Robinson's henchmen, in 1948's ''
Key Largo
Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...
''.
Other small film roles included appearances as
Claude Rains's butler in ''
The Unsuspected
''The Unsuspected'' is a 1947 American mystery film, mystery film noir directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Ted North, Constance Bennett, Joan Caulfield, and Hurd Hatfield. The film was based on a novel by Charlott ...
'' (1947), Sheriff Clyde Boston in ''
Gun Crazy
''Gun Crazy'' (also known as ''Deadly Is the Female'') is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced ...
'' (1949), the head of a gang of criminals in ''
Blonde Dynamite
''Blonde Dynamite'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on February 12, 1950 by Monogram Pictures and is the seventeenth film in the series.
Plot
After Slip and Sach are ...
'' (1950), and as a gangster in "The Monkey Mystery" episode of ''
Adventures of Superman'' on television (1951). He also had a minor role as a slave in
Cecil B. Demille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...
's epic ''
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
''.
In 1950, Lewis and his then girlfriend Marilyn Friedman, invested $3,500 to open the
Hamburger Hamlet restaurant at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Hilldale Avenue on the
Sunset Strip in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. The restaurant was successful and grew into a chain of 24 locations. The couple's two children, David and Adam, joined them in the restaurant business. The Lewises took Hamburger Hamlet public in 1969, and sold the company for $29.2 million in 1987. After the sale, the couple opened new independent restaurants in the Los Angeles area. The reason they gave for the name "Hamburger Hamlet" was because they meant for the eatery to be a restaurant where actors could hang out, and that it was every actor's dream to play
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
.
In the late 1960s, Marilyn Lewis launched a ready-to-wear line of clothing under the brand name
Cardinali, which was sold at prestigious stores including
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington ...
and
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is a luxury department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son, Andrew Goodman.
...
and Bullock's Wilshire. The clothing line lasted just nine years, but was influential in its time (featured in
Vogue magazine
''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogu ...
), and was a favorite of
Nancy Reagan,
Dyan Cannon
Dyan Cannon (born Samille Diane Friesen; January 4, 1937) is an American actress, director, screenwriter, producer, and editor. Her accolades include a Saturn Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations, and a star on the Holly ...
and
Marlo Thomas
Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her children's franchise '' Free to Be... You and ...
. The Cardinali line was credited for influencing designers such as
Marc Jacobs and various gowns worn to the Oscars.
Lewis died on June 9, 2013, at the age of 93.
His widow Marilyn died on May 3, 2017.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Harry
1920 births
2013 deaths
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from Los Angeles
People from Beverly Hills, California
American male film actors
American restaurateurs
American male television actors
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
20th-century American businesspeople
it:Harry Lewis (pugile)