Alfred S. Hart | |
Birth Name: | Alfred Harskovitz |
Birth Date: | 1904 |
Birth Place: | Hungary |
Death Date: | 1979 |
Nationality: | American |
Occupation: | Businessman, banker |
Alfred S. Hart (a.k.a. Al Hart or Alfred Harskovitz) (1904 - 1979) was a Hungarian-born American businessman and banker. He was a wholesaler of beer in Chicago during Prohibition and later a distributor of wine and spirits in Los Angeles, California. He served as a director of Columbia Pictures. In 1954, he founded City National Bank in Beverly Hills.
Alfred Harskovitz was born in a Jewish family in Hungary in 1904.[1] He immigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago.[1]
He started his career working for Al Capone as a wholesaler of beer during Prohibition, when it was an illegal substance.[1] He then worked for Charles Gioe and Joseph Fusco as the manager of Gold Seal Liquors.[1]
He moved to California in the 1920s and quickly established Glencoe Distilleries and the Pacific Brewing Company.[1] A decade later, in the 1930s, he was the owner of Central Liquor Distributors, the San Angelo Wine and Spirit Corporation, and Alfred Hart Distilleries.[1] He later became the majority owner of the Maier Brewing Company.[1]
He was the owner of the Del Mar racetrack in San Diego.[1] In 1948, he invested US$75,000 in the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1] Additionally, he was a real estate investor in San Bernardino.[1]
He served on the board of directors of Columbia Pictures.[1] [2] [3] In 1954, he founded City National Bank in Beverly Hills.[2] [3] He hired Benjamin N. Maltz as the first chairman of the board.[2]
Hart died in 1979.[2]