Arnie Morton
Encyclopedia
Arnold "Arnie" Morton was a restaurateur who founded Morton's Restaurant Group/Morton's Steakhouse. He is the father of Peter Morton
, owner of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe
; of Michael Morton
, head of the N9NE Group
, which operates contemporary American steakhouses in Las Vegas, Chicago and Dallas; of Amy Morton owner and operator of now defunct Mirador and the Blue Room, Stephanie Morton, producer- owner of Stephanie Morton Productions which produces still photo shoots all over the globe and David Morton, owner of the Italian restaurant chain Pompei and co-owner of DMK Burger Bar. He is the grandfather of Harry Morton, President and CEO of the Mexican restaurant chain Pink Taco
.
and grew up in Hyde Park, Chicago
. He graduated from Hyde Park High School and enlisted in the United States Army
in World War II
. He saw eight months of action and arrived in Normandy, France, just after D-day
. After the war, he attended the University of Alabama
where he played football
for two (2) years.
Arnie Morton's father owned a restaurant on the South Side of Chicago. From the age of 15, Morton bused tables, worked in the kitchen, and performed a wide array of odd jobs at the restaurant. These laid the ground for his work in the 1960s as a founder of the famed Playboy Clubs and Resorts.
and Hugh Hefner
, the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy Magazine.
Morton was the right-hand man of Hugh Hefner when he launched the Playboy Empire on February 29, 1960. He was largely involved in the opening of the first Playboy Club
with Hefner and Lownes in 1960.
He served as Executive Vice President of Playboy Enterprises
, where he developed the worldwide chain of Playboy Club
s.
Over the course of 20 years, Morton created Arnie's, a landmark of Chicago's Gold Coast; Zorine's; and Morton's. In 1978, Morton's opened in the basement of a Near North Side
high-rise in Chicago
. The menu consisted simply of giant potatoes and large steaks. It was slow at the beginning, but gained a boost when Frank Sinatra
arrived at the restaurant and became a regular. This original Morton's became the stepping stone for 65 other Morton's locations in the United States
, Hongkong, Singapore
, and Canada
. In the 1970s, other ventures included Arnie's Restaurant and an exclusive Club, Zorine's (discothèque).
Morton met Klaus Fritsch while working alongside Hugh Hefner
. Then, Fritsch was food and beverage director of the Playboy Club
s. Morton left Playboy in the early 1970s as did Fritsch to begin a 20 year run of working together.
Morton also developed Chicago's swank East Bank Club and its three restaurants and once teamed with chef Jean Banchet to open an elegant French seafood restaurant, Zorine's Club La Mer. Morton sold his Morton's Steakhouses in 1987.
party in 1960, and they married in 1961. They had five children. He has a brother, Robert.
. He had Alzheimer's Disease
and cancer
. In recognition of his significant contributions, a resolution was presented to his family from the House of Representatives of the 94th General Assembly of the State of Illinois "so that his memory may be honored and ever cherished".
", one of the city's best-loved summer festivals. He got the idea when he went to a similar event in New York in the late 1970s. Thinking that Chicago could do much better, he lined up restaurants to participate and persuaded then Mayor Jane Byrne
to block off Michigan Avenue for the first Taste of Chicago on July 4, 1980, planting the seed for this food festival. Of the 100,000 people the organizers expected, more than 250,000 showed up, with food and soda sales grossing $300,000. Since then, the festival has evolved and has been done every year during the Fourth of July celebrations.
Peter Morton
Peter Morton was the co-founder with Isaac Tigrett of the Hard Rock Café, a chain of casual dining restaurants. His father is Arnie Morton, founder of Morton's, and his son is Harry Morton, founder of Pink Taco restaurants...
, owner of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
; of Michael Morton
Michael Morton
Michael Morton is the son of Zorine and Arnold Arnie Morton, the restaurateur and founder of Morton's Steakhouse Chain. He is the brother of Peter Morton, founder and former owner of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe and the uncle of Harry Morton, President and CEO of...
, head of the N9NE Group
N9NE Group
The N9NE Group is a partnership that owns and operates restaurants and nightclubs in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, Chicago and Dallas.The N9NE Group was founded by Michael Morton and Scott DeGraff. The two have been friends since age nine, which is the source of the company's name...
, which operates contemporary American steakhouses in Las Vegas, Chicago and Dallas; of Amy Morton owner and operator of now defunct Mirador and the Blue Room, Stephanie Morton, producer- owner of Stephanie Morton Productions which produces still photo shoots all over the globe and David Morton, owner of the Italian restaurant chain Pompei and co-owner of DMK Burger Bar. He is the grandfather of Harry Morton, President and CEO of the Mexican restaurant chain Pink Taco
Pink Taco
Pink Taco is a restaurant in Los Angeles, California. It calls itself a chain, but currently only has one location open after previously having had several locations. It serves Mexican food. The chain has earned notoriety due to its name, which is a slang term for the human vulva...
.
Personal life and background
Arnie Morton was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and grew up in Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
. He graduated from Hyde Park High School and enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He saw eight months of action and arrived in Normandy, France, just after D-day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. After the war, he attended the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
where he played football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
for two (2) years.
Arnie Morton's father owned a restaurant on the South Side of Chicago. From the age of 15, Morton bused tables, worked in the kitchen, and performed a wide array of odd jobs at the restaurant. These laid the ground for his work in the 1960s as a founder of the famed Playboy Clubs and Resorts.
Career
Arnie Morton opened his first restaurant, the Walton Walk, between Rush Street and Michigan Avenue in the 1950s. This paved the way for a partnership with Victor LownesVictor Lownes
Victor Aubrey Lownes III An executive with Playboy Enterprises in various capacities, various vice-presidencies, always a close confidant of Hugh Hefner. Headed Playboy Europe and the UK Playboy Clubs from the mid-sixties until his dismissal in the early eighties...
and Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
, the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy Magazine.
Morton was the right-hand man of Hugh Hefner when he launched the Playboy Empire on February 29, 1960. He was largely involved in the opening of the first Playboy Club
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...
with Hefner and Lownes in 1960.
He served as Executive Vice President of Playboy Enterprises
Playboy Enterprises
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is a privately held global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Marston Hefner to manage the Playboy magazine empire. Its programming and content are available worldwide on television networks, Websites, mobile platforms and radio...
, where he developed the worldwide chain of Playboy Club
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...
s.
Over the course of 20 years, Morton created Arnie's, a landmark of Chicago's Gold Coast; Zorine's; and Morton's. In 1978, Morton's opened in the basement of a Near North Side
Near North Side, Chicago
The Near North Side is one of 77 well-defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north and east of the Chicago River, just north of the central business district . To its east is Lake Michigan and its northern boundary is the 19th-century city limit of Chicago,...
high-rise in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The menu consisted simply of giant potatoes and large steaks. It was slow at the beginning, but gained a boost when Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
arrived at the restaurant and became a regular. This original Morton's became the stepping stone for 65 other Morton's locations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Hongkong, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In the 1970s, other ventures included Arnie's Restaurant and an exclusive Club, Zorine's (discothèque).
Morton met Klaus Fritsch while working alongside Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
. Then, Fritsch was food and beverage director of the Playboy Club
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...
s. Morton left Playboy in the early 1970s as did Fritsch to begin a 20 year run of working together.
Morton also developed Chicago's swank East Bank Club and its three restaurants and once teamed with chef Jean Banchet to open an elegant French seafood restaurant, Zorine's Club La Mer. Morton sold his Morton's Steakhouses in 1987.
Family
Morton was married for a short while out of WW2 and had twins- Peter and Pam. Later he met his current wife Zorine at a PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
party in 1960, and they married in 1961. They had five children. He has a brother, Robert.
Death
Morton died on May 28, 2005, aged 83 at a care home in Deerfield, IllinoisDeerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
. He had Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. In recognition of his significant contributions, a resolution was presented to his family from the House of Representatives of the 94th General Assembly of the State of Illinois "so that his memory may be honored and ever cherished".
Credits
Morton is credited as the brains behind the "Taste of ChicagoTaste of Chicago
The Taste of Chicago is the world's largest food festival, held annually for ten days in Grant Park, in Chicago starting the Friday before the 4th of July and ending the Sunday after . The event is the largest festival in Chicago...
", one of the city's best-loved summer festivals. He got the idea when he went to a similar event in New York in the late 1970s. Thinking that Chicago could do much better, he lined up restaurants to participate and persuaded then Mayor Jane Byrne
Jane Byrne
Jane Margaret Byrne was the first and to date only female Mayor of Chicago. She served from April 16, 1979 to April 29, 1983. Chicago is the largest city in the United States to have had a female mayor as of 2011.-Early political career:...
to block off Michigan Avenue for the first Taste of Chicago on July 4, 1980, planting the seed for this food festival. Of the 100,000 people the organizers expected, more than 250,000 showed up, with food and soda sales grossing $300,000. Since then, the festival has evolved and has been done every year during the Fourth of July celebrations.
External links
- http://www.mortons.com/website/index.html
- http://www.tasteofchicago.us/