Warner Lewis LeRoy (March 5, 1935 – February 22, 2001), was a New York City businessman. LeRoy was the son of film producer-director Mervyn LeRoy and Mervyn's second wife, Doris Warner, and was the grandson of

Harry Warner Harry Morris Warner (born Hirsz Mojżesz Wonsal; December 12, 1881 – July 25, 1958) was an American studio executive, one of the founders of Warner Bros., and a major contributor to the development of the film industry. Along with his three ...

, one of the founders of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and a major contributor to the development of the film industry.

Career

Warner founded LeRoy Adventures, which owned and operated the York Cinema, Maxwell's Plum, Potomac in Washington, D.C.,

Great Adventure Six Flags Great Adventure is an amusement park located in Jackson, New Jersey. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park complex is situated between New York City and Philadelphia and includes a water park named Hurricane Harbor. It first ope ...

Tavern on the Green Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been o ...

and the

Russian Tea Room The Russian Tea Room is an Art Deco Russo-Continental restaurant, located at 150 West 57th Street (between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue), between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower, in the New York City borough of Manhattan ...

, located in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, was one of the most popular restaurants in New York City. In 1974, LeRoy took over the restaurant's lease and reopened in 1976 after $10 million in renovations. During a labor dispute in 1989, Warner was quoted as asking, "What do waiters need a pension for?" Warner was known to pay for his employees' children's education. Tavern routinely produced the highest gross revenue of all U.S. restaurants during the years from the 1980s until the early 2000s. In 1995, LeRoy purchased The

, and he spent $32 million on renovations. It closed in 2002, one year after LeRoy's death. It later reopened under different ownership.

Personal life

As a child, LeRoy made "a tour of prep schools including Hotchkiss in Connecticut and Le Rosey in Switzerland" before graduating from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in English. After graduating, he went to New York to work as an assistant to writer-director

Garson Kanin Garson Kanin (November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999) was an American writer and director of plays and films. Early life Garson Kanin was born in Rochester, New York; his family later relocated to Detroit then to New York City. He attended ...

. He had one child, Bridget, with his first wife, Gen LeRoy Walton, and three children with his second wife Kay O'Reilly: Carolyn, Max, and Jennifer. Jennifer became the CEO of LeRoy Adventures at age 22 upon LeRoy's death of complications from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

in 2001 at age 65. He is buried at the Shaarey Pardes Accabonac Grove Cemetery in the Hamptons, New York. Warner's son Max was killed in a motorcycle accident in November 2005 at the age of 30; Max was a close friend of

Sean Lennon is an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The ...

, who dedicated his 2006 album, ''Friendly Fire'', to Max.The LeRoy Family
''The New York Observer'', December 17, 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leroy, Warner 1935 births 2001 deaths Deaths from lymphoma American restaurateurs Businesspeople from New York (state) American company founders Stanford University alumni Hotchkiss School alumni Alumni of Institut Le Rosey Warner family 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American Jews