Hamburger Hamlet

Hamburger Hamlet (or "The Hamlet") was a chain of restaurants based in Los Angeles, and a point of reference for the inhabitants and creative industries of the city. Opened in 1950 by actor Harry Lewis with his future wife Marilyn (m.1952), it grew to a chain of 24 locations, including the Chicago and Washington, D.C. metro areas, before they were all either sold or closed down. Lewis named the restaurant in honor of the titular character in Shakespeare's eponymous play. In Hollywood biographies of both Peggy Lee and Alfred Hitchcock, Hamburger Hamlet is mentioned as a favorite haunt. In the novel American Dream Machine, author Matthew Specktor mourns the closing of the Sunset Boulevard Hamlet as the passing of a bygone era of Old Hollywood glamour. In 2014, Los Angeles Magazine published the article Vintage Los Angeles: The Tragedy of Hamburger Hamlet, where author Alison Martino wrote: It was where you bumped into celebrities and industry moguls in a casual environment, dining in darkly lit giant red leather chairs. But there was nothing casual about the clientele. Where else could you see Dean Martin sipping a martini at the bar, Lucille Ball hair spraying her red locks in the ladies room, Bette Davis chain smoking in the Tap Room, or Frank Sinatra taking a meeting with his publicist? I witnessed all of this first hand. Even the restaurant’s hostess, actress and singer Frances Davis, who was once married to Miles Davis, would occasionally burst into song and dance while taking you to your table.