Harry Lewis (actor)
{{short description|American actor (1920–2013)}}
{{Other people|Harry Lewis}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Harry Lewis
|image = Harry Lewis actor.jpg
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1920|04|01}}
|birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2013|06|09|1920|04|01}}
|death_place =Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
|othername = Cpl. Harry Lewis
|occupation = Actor, restaurateur
|yearsactive = 1941–1985
|spouse = {{marriage|Marilyn Friedman Lewis|1952}}
|website =
}}
Harry L. Lewis (April 1, 1920{{spaced ndash}}June 9, 2013) was a supporting actor in films and was the founder, along with his wife Marilyn, of the Hamburger Hamlet and Kate Mantilini restaurant chains.
Biography
Lewis was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 1, 1920.{{cite web |title=California Births, 1905 - 1995 {{!}} Lewis, Harry L |url=http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/calbirths?c=search&first=Harry&last=Lewis&spelling=Exact&4_year=&4_month=4&4_day=1&5=&7=&SubmitSearch.x=45&SubmitSearch.y=24 |access-date=2010-08-16 |publisher=Family Tree Legends |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731171754/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/calbirths?c=search&first=Harry&last=Lewis&spelling=Exact&4_year=&4_month=4&4_day=1&5=&7=&SubmitSearch.x=45&SubmitSearch.y=24 |archive-date=2012-07-31}} 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, in 1948's Key Largo.{{cite news
|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9905E1DE1138E33BBC4F52DFB1668383659EDE
|title=THE SCREEN; 'Key Largo,' Remake of Drama by Anderson With Bogart and Robinson, at Strand
|first=Bosley
|last=Crowther
|author-link=Bosley Crowther
|newspaper=The New York Times
|date=July 17, 1948
|access-date=January 27, 2008
|url-access=subscription
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430145107/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/17/archives/the-screen-key-largo-remake-of-drama-by-anderson-with-bogart-and.html
|archive-date=2019-04-30
|url-status=live
}}
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,{{cite news |first=Rene |last=Lynch |title=Harry Lewis dies at 93; launched Hamburger Hamlet chain |date=June 10, 2013 |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-harry-lewis-20130611,0,3634468.story |access-date=2013-06-11 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611193837/http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-harry-lewis-20130611,0,3634468.story |archive-date=2013-06-11 |url-status=live}} invested {{US$|3500|link=yes}} ({{Inflation|US|3500|1950|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) 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 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|29.2|1987|r=1}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).
Lewis and his wife Marilyn later owned the Beverly Hills restaurant institution Kate Mantilini, which closed in 2014 after operating for 27 years. The restaurant was named after a mistress of Marilyn's uncle.
Lewis died on June 9, 2013, at the age of 93.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/features/food/dailydish/la-dd-harry-lewis-hamburger-hamlet-20130610,0,166531.story |title=Actor and Hamburger Hamlet founder Harry Lewis dies at 93 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |last=Lynch |first=Rene |date=June 10, 2013 |access-date=June 10, 2013 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514195625/https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-harry-lewis-hamburger-hamlet-20130610-story.html |archive-date=2014-05-14}} His widow Marilyn died on May 3, 2017.{{cite news |last1=Seitz |first1=John L. |title=Marilyn Lewis Of Hamburger Hamlet, Cardinali Fame Died Wednesday |work=The Beverly Hills Courier |date=May 5, 2017 |url=http://bhcourier.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/050517Fissue.pdf |access-date=May 5, 2017}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023|fix-attempted=yes}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Dive Bomber | Flag Man | Uncredited |
| 1941 | International Squadron | Pilot | Uncredited |
| 1941 | One Foot in Heaven | Young Soldier in Hospital | Uncredited |
| 1941 | They Died with Their Boots On | Youth | Uncredited |
| 1941 | The Body Disappears | Elevator Operator | Uncredited |
| 1941 | You're in the Army Now | Recruit | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Captains of the Clouds | Mr. Burton - RCAF Applicant | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Always in My Heart | Steve | |
| 1942 | Secret Enemies | Radio Operator | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Busses Roar | Danny | |
| 1942 | Desperate Journey | Evans | Uncredited |
| 1943 | The Hard Way | Serious Young Man | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Air Force | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1944 | The Last Ride | Harry Bronson | |
| 1944 | Winged Victory | Cadet Peter Clark | |
| 1946 | Her Kind of Man | Candy | |
| 1947 | The Unsuspected | Max | |
| 1947 | Always Together | Reporter | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Winter Meeting | Juvenile | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Wallflower | Arthur | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Key Largo | Edward 'Toots' Bass | |
| 1948 | Adventures of Don Juan | Innkeeper's Son | Uncredited |
| 1948 | The Decision of Christopher Blake | Juvenile in Play | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Whiplash | Press Man | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch | Chick Bennett | |
| 1949 | Bomba on Panther Island | Robert Maitland | |
| 1950 | Gun Crazy | Deputy Clyde Boston | |
| 1950 | Blonde Dynamite | Champ Fallon | |
| 1950 | My Friend Irma Goes West | Trooper | Uncredited |
| 1950 | Southside 1-1000 | FBI Agent | Uncredited |
| 1951 | The Fat Man | Happy Stevens | |
| 1953 | Run for the Hills | Mr. Carewe | |
| 1953 | Vice Squad | Arresting Detective | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Ritchie | Season 1 Episode 37: "Decoy" |
| 1956 | The Harder They Fall | New York Ring Announcer | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The Ten Commandments | Slave | Uncredited |
| 1956 | Accused of Murder | Bartender | Uncredited |
| 1956 | The Man Is Armed | Cole | |
| 1959 | I Mobster | Gangster | Uncredited |
| 1969 | Pendulum | Brooks Elliot | |
| 1978 | Invisible Strangler | Stage Manager |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Harry}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:Male actors from Beverly Hills, California
Category:American male film actors
Category:American restaurateurs
Category:American male television actors
Category:Businesspeople from Los Angeles