Ed Mirvish

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Ed Mirvish
OC CBE OOnt
Ed Mirvish, 2006
Born
Yehuda Edwin Mirvish

(1914-07-24)July 24, 1914
Colonial Beach, Virginia,
United States
DiedJuly 11, 2007(2007-07-11) (aged 92)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Other namesHonest Ed
Occupation(s)Founder, chair and CEO of Honest Ed's
ChildrenDavid Mirvish[1]

Yehuda Edwin "Honest Ed" Mirvish,

theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's
, a landmark discount store in downtown Toronto, and as a patron of the arts, instrumental in revitalizing the theatre scene in Toronto.

Biography

Born in

Jewish immigrants from Lithuania (his father, David) and Austria (his mother, Anna). His parents gave him the Hebrew name, Yehuda, but at the urging of a cousin, they added a more American name, Edwin.[3] Mirvish often told the tale of his bris; there was no mohel in Colonial Beach, so the family hired one in nearby Washington, D.C., to come down to perform the ceremony. The mohel chosen was Rabbi Moshe Reuben Yoelson, the father of Al Jolson. Mirvish credited this as his introduction to show business.[4]

The family later moved to Washington, D.C., where Mirvish's father opened a grocery store. The grocery store went bankrupt in 1923, and David Mirvish moved his family to Toronto where he worked as a door-to-door salesman – peddling, among other things,

Dundas Street
. The family lived above the store, sharing their tiny apartment with a Hebrew school. Mirvish would often joke that it was his dream in those days to someday have a bathroom he did not have to share with 50 others.

Mirvish lost his father at the age of 15. He dropped out of school to manage the store, becoming the sole support of his mother, his younger brother, Robert (who became a successful novelist and short-story writer) and sister, Lorraine. The grocery business did not do well, and Mirvish closed shop to reopen as a dry-cleaner, in partnership with his childhood friend, Yale Simpson. The shop was known as Simpson's. When the well-known downtown Toronto department store

Simpson's attempted to force him to change the name of his business, Mirvish pointed to Simpson and said, "Here's my Mr. Simpson. Where's yours?" The dry-cleaning business did no better than the grocery, however, and Mirvish soon abandoned it to take a regular job working as a produce manager and buyer for Toronto grocery store entrepreneur Leon Weinstein. Now financially stable, Mirvish bought a Ford Model T and began to court a radio singer from Hamilton, Ontario, Anne Macklin, whom he married in 1941. In 1945, their son, David
, was born.

Honest Ed's discount store

In 1943, during World War II, Ed and Anne Mirvish opened a dress shop known as The Sport Bar on Bloor Street near Bathurst.

Mirvish Village.[5]

In June 2006, Ed and Anne Mirvish[6] marked their 65th wedding anniversary with a party at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The mayor of Toronto, the chief of police and other public figures delivered congratulatory speeches, followed by a program of vocal music by some of Toronto's opera and theater stars.[7] In July 2006, Mirvish celebrated his 92nd birthday with a lavish party at Honest Ed's. In honor of this occasion, many items in the store were on sale for 92 cents.[8]

On July 11, 2007, the Mirvish family released a statement to announce the death of Ed Mirvish after midnight at

civic centres were lowered to half mast.[9]

On August 12, 2007, the City of Toronto had granted a closure of Bloor Street between Bathurst and Markham Streets to accommodate a celebration in honour of Ed Mirvish. Ceremonies began with Mayor David Miller, who proclaimed August 12 "Ed Mirvish Day" in the City of Toronto.

In response to his death, Jones Cane Sugar Soda issued bottles of their soda with a picture of Honest Ed on them, with "Honest Ed Mirvish 1914–2007" placed where normally a photo credit lies.

Publicity stunts

Mirvish was renowned for his publicity stunts, doing everything from riding elephants, to hiring protesters to picket his own restaurant over its dress code. Every Christmas, Mirvish gave away ten thousand pounds of free turkeys in his store to shoppers who stood in line for hours. The giveaway continued each Christmas until 2015.[10] [11] A tradition since his 75th birthday has been the annual birthday bash outside the store, with free food, entertainment and children's rides. In 2003, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman proclaimed Mirvish's birthday "Ed Mirvish Day".[12]

At one time, a sign in the store read: "When Ed dies, he would like a catered funeral with accordion players and a buffet table, with a replica of Honest Ed on it made of potato salad."[13]

Theatres and restaurants

The Royal Alexandra Theatre

In addition to Honest Ed's, Mirvish was known in Toronto for his theatres and restaurants.[9] His first purchase was the Royal Alexandra Theatre, an Edwardian Beaux-Arts landmark building potentially slated for demolition. Mirvish purchased the building in 1963 and refurbished it, revitalizing the Toronto theatre scene.[14][15]

To liven up the neighborhood and provide patrons with a place to go before and after performances, Mirvish bought and renovated a nearby warehouse building, which he turned into a restaurant. To cut costs, "Ed's Warehouse" at King Street West and Duncan Street served a set meal: prime rib, mashed potatoes and peas.[5] Along the same street, Mirvish later opened Ed's Seafood (276 King Street West), Ed's Folly (268 King Street West), Ed's Chinese, Ed's Italian Restaurant and Old Ed's or Ed's Warehouse (Edwardian style warehouse at 266 King Street West or also as Reid Building built 1904 by Alexander Frank Wickson for Featherbone Novelty Manufacturing Company),[16] which attracted local residents to the previously neglected King Street area and served 6,000 meals a night. As the neighbourhood became revitalized, many other restaurants opened nearby, often serving a wider range of foods than Ed's restaurants and achieving greater popularity; consequently, one by one, Ed's restaurants closed down. The last was Ed's Warehouse, which shut its doors in 2000.[5]

In 1993 the Mirvishes built the

Clear Channel Entertainment (now Live Nation), which had bought up the assets of the bankrupt theatre company, Livent.[5] The first show under the Mirvish banner was a touring production of Saturday Night Fever
.

He and his son David operated Mirvish Productions, which staged major touring theatre productions from Broadway and London and which produced and/or co-produced the Canadian stagings of such recent hits as

Commander of the Order of the British Empire
for saving the Old Vic.

On December 6, 2011 the

Canon Theatre
was renamed Ed Mirvish Theatre in his honour.

Honours and awards

Published works

  • How to Build an Empire on an Orange Crate, or 121 Lessons I Never Learned at School, the autobiography of Edwin Mirvish, published by Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1993
  • There's no business like show business : but I wouldn't ditch my day job by Ed Mirvish, published by Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1997.
  • Retail Council of Canada's Awards of Distinction

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rising son". Toronto Life: 50–58. May 1993 – via CBCA Complete.
  2. ^ "Honest Ed Mirvish dies at 92". National Post. July 11, 2007. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  3. ^ Richard Ouzounian (July 11, 2007). "Ed Mirvish, 92: 'Honest Ed'". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on September 11, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  4. ^ a b CanWest News Service (July 11, 2007). "Entrepreneur and theatre impresario Mirvish dead at 92". Canada.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d Richard Ouzounian (July 12, 2007). "Ed Mirvish, 92: Toronto's Greatest Bargain". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  6. ^ "Anne Mirvish, wife of 'Honest' Ed Mirvish, dies at 94". CBS News. The Canadian Press. September 20, 2013. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013.
  7. ^ "'Honest Ed' Mirvish celebrating 92nd birthday". CTV. July 23, 2006. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  8. ^ "Honest Ed Mirvish Celebrates His 92nd Birthday". CityNews. July 23, 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c "Emotional Crowds Say Goodbye To Ed Mirvish With Tears And Cheers". CityNews. July 13, 2007. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  10. ^ Goffin, Peter. "Last call for Honest Ed's annual turkey giveaway". Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  11. ^ Robertson, Ian (December 4, 2006). "Ed's turkeys theirs for the gobbling". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  12. ^ City of Toronto: City Proclamations
  13. ^ Obituary: Ed Mirvish
  14. ^ "Honest Ed Gets Royal Alex – "Not Looking for a Profit"". Toronto Daily Star. February 16, 1963. p. 1.
  15. ^ John Goddard (July 12, 2007). "Honest tears shed for well-loved retailer". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 16, 2009.
  16. ^ "Ed's Warehouse - the Beloved Restaurant That Was an Attraction in Itself". May 15, 2021.
  17. ^ "Honest Ed buys Old Vic theatre". The Globe and Mail. June 24, 1982.
  18. ^ City of Toronto, By-law No.956-2008, To rename part of the public highway Duncan Street between King Street West and Pearl Street as "Ed Mirvish Way".
  19. ^ Staff report for action on the renaming of Bathurst Subway Parkette

External links

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