Harry L. Lewis (April 1, 1920 â€" June 9, 2013) was a supporting actor
in films and was the founder, along with his wife Marilyn, of the
"Hamburger Hamlet" restaurant chain.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., 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, with his film career interrupted when he enlisted in the
Army Air Forces and appeared in the cast of Winged Victory (1944).
After the war he returned to Warners and appeared in 1948's Key
Largo.Other small film roles included appearances as Claude Rains's
butler in The Unsuspected (1947), Sheriff Clyde Boston in Gun Crazy
(1949), the head of a gang of criminals in Blonde Dynamite (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's epic The Ten Commandments.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. 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.
in films and was the founder, along with his wife Marilyn, of the
"Hamburger Hamlet" restaurant chain.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., 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, with his film career interrupted when he enlisted in the
Army Air Forces and appeared in the cast of Winged Victory (1944).
After the war he returned to Warners and appeared in 1948's Key
Largo.Other small film roles included appearances as Claude Rains's
butler in The Unsuspected (1947), Sheriff Clyde Boston in Gun Crazy
(1949), the head of a gang of criminals in Blonde Dynamite (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's epic The Ten Commandments.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. 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.
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