15 Facts About Arnie Morton

Arnie Morton grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the city's South Side, where his father owned two restaurants.

Arnie Morton 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.

Arnie Morton opened his first restaurant, the Walton Walk, between Rush Street and Michigan Avenue in the 1950s.

Arnie Morton was the right-hand man of Hugh Hefner when he launched the Playboy Empire on February 29,1960.

Arnie Morton served as Executive Vice President of Playboy Enterprises, where he developed the worldwide chain of Playboy Clubs.

Arnie Morton went out on his own again after ten years, partnering with Klaus Fritsch, the food and beverage director of the Playboy Clubs.

Arnie Morton's parents had run a restaurant in Hyde Park, called Morton's, which for 23 years had been located at 5487 Lake Park Avenue.

In 1958, his parents having died, Arnie Morton relocated the restaurant to the newly-opened Shore Drive Motel, at 56th and South Shore Drive.

In 1978, Arnie Morton closed the Hyde Park location to open the first Arnie Morton's Steakhouse.

In 1987, Arnie Morton sold Arnie Morton's Steakhouses, then with $15 million in sales and nine restaurants throughout the United States, for $12.4 million to the venture capital firm Quantum Restaurant Group, Inc in partnership with the Baltimore brokerage house Alex.

Arnie Morton's eventually grew into a chain of Arnie Morton's of 70 locations in the United States, Hongkong, China, Singapore, Macau, Mexico, and Canada.

Arnie Morton is credited as the inspiration behind the "Taste of Chicago", one of the city's best-loved summer festivals.

Arnie Morton got the idea when he went to a similar event in New York in the late 1970s.

Arnie Morton was the grandfather of the late Harry Arnie Morton, President and CEO of the Mexican restaurant chain Pink Taco, and 16 other grandchildren.

Arnie Morton died on May 28,2005, aged 83 at a care home in Deerfield, Illinois.