Arnie Morton
| Arnie Morton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Arnold Morton 1922 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died |
(aged 83) Deerfield, Illinois |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder of Morton's Restaurant Group |
| Spouse(s) | Spouse 1 (divorced) Zorine Morton |
| Children |
with Spouse 1: --Peter Morton (twin) --Pam Morton (twin) with Zorine: --Michael Morton --David Morton --Stephanie Morton --Amy Morton-Levin --Debra Morton-Berger |
| Parent(s) | Mort and Isabel Morton |
Arnold "Arnie" Morton (1922–May 28, 2005) was a restaurateur who founded Morton's Restaurant Group/Morton's Steakhouse.
Arnie Morton was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, the son of Mort and Isabel Morton, and grew up in Hyde Park, Chicago where his father owned two restaurants. He had two brothers, Edward and Robert. He graduated from Hyde Park High School and enlisted in the United States Army during World War II where he saw eight months of action after arriving in Normandy, France immediately after D-day. After the war, he attended the University of Alabama where he played football for two 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.
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 Lownes and Hugh Hefner, launching the Playboy Club in 1960. Morton was the right-hand man of Hugh Hefner when he launched the Playboy Empire on February 29, 1960. He served as Executive Vice President of Playboy Enterprises, where he developed the worldwide chain of Playboy Clubs. He went out on his own again after ten years, partnering with Klaus Fritsch, the food and beverage director of the Playboy Clubs.
In the 1970s, he and Klitsch opened several successful ventures in Chicago including Arnie's on Chicago's Gold Coast; the seafood restaurant LaMer; and the disco/night club Zorrine's (named after Morton's wife). In 1978, Morton's of Chicago opened in the basement of a Near North Side high-rise in Chicago adjacent to the existing Arnie's restaurant. 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.
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