Terry Koumoudouros (died 2007) was a Greek-Canadian strip club owner who paved the way to legalise naked dancing in Toronto. With his brother, he was the co-owner of two

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 ...

strip clubs.

Early life

As a child, Koumoudouros worked as a shepherd in Greece, and read about philosophy before emigrating to Canada in 1964 with his younger brother, Spiro.

Career

The same year that the Koumoudouros brothers moved to Canada, they opened the Queen Steak and Burger restaurant at the intersection of

Kipling Avenue Kipling Avenue is a street in the cities of Toronto and Vaughan, Ontario, Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, 6 concessions (12 km) west from Yonge Street, and is a major north–south arterial road. It consists of thre ...

and

Dundas Street Dundas Street () is a major historic arterial road in Ontario, Canada. The road connects the city of Toronto with its western Greater Toronto Area, suburbs and several cities in southwestern Ontario. Three provincial highways—Ontario Highway 2 ...

. Later they sold food in the basement of a University Avenue office block. In 1986, Koumoudouros won a legal challenge in the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

to allow naked dancing in strip clubs. He had previously avoided the intention of existing legislation that forbade naked dancing by employing dancers who initially danced topless before putting on a shirt and then dancing bottomless. Koumoudouros and his brother ran a strip club in Toronto from 1969 or 1970 until 1980, at which point he returned to Greece. In 1982, he returned to Toronto and opened a strip club on

The Queensway The Queensway (or Queensway) is a major street in the municipalities of Toronto and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is a western continuation of Queen Street, after it crosses Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in Toronto. The Queensway is ...

, opening another on

Bloor Street Bloor Street is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River (Ontario), Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkway. East ...

in 1983.

Politics

Koumoudouros was a donor to the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

and a worked with Toronto's municipal government to improve the Bloordale neighbourhood. His meeting with federal immigration minister

Judy Sgro Judith A. Sgro (born December 16, 1944) is a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, she currently represents the electoral district of Humber River—Black Creek in the House of Commons of Canada. Sgro currently serves a ...

's chief of staff came to light during the

Strippergate (Canada) Strippergate was a 2004-2005 political scandal in Canada in which federal immigration minister Judy Sgro was accused of providing favours to people who helped with her political campaigning during the 2004 Canadian federal election. Sgro was accus ...

scandal in 2004, when he advocated for federal help for Dominican strippers trying to move to Canada.

Personal life and death

Koumoudouros was married with three children and two stepchildren. He died on May 24, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koumoudouros, Terry Strip clubs 20th-century Canadian businesspeople 2007 deaths Greek emigrants to Canada Strip club owners Canadian entertainment industry businesspeople