Africa | America | Asia | Australasia | Europe | India | Middle East | UK | US

Founder of Carl's Jr. chain dies at 90

Posted : Sat, 12 Jan 2008 06:24:31 GMT
Author : General News Editor
Category : US (World)
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
US World News | Home
FULLERTON, Calif., Jan. 12 Carl Karcher, founder of the Carl's Jr. chain of fast-food restaurants, died Friday in California at 90.

A spokeswoman for CKE Restaurants told The Los Angeles Times the cause was pneumonia related to Parkinson's disease. Karcher died at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton.

Like other fast-food pioneers, Karcher took advantage of the affluence and automobile culture of the 1950s. An eighth-grade dropout, he started in 1941 with a single hot-dog cart bought with a loan guaranteed by his new car and owned several carts by the time he enlisted in the military in World War II.

In 1945, Karcher opened Carl's Drive-In Barbecue in Anaheim, Calif. In the 1950s, two smaller branches were given the name Carl's Junior, which expanded into a chain of 1,000 restaurants.

Karcher was also known for his conservative political views, which included support of a proposal to allow homosexual teachers to be fired. In the 1980s, he became involved in an insider-trading scandal, and he came close to bankruptcy in the 1990s when the price of company stock fell.

Karcher's wife of 66 years, Margaret Heinz Karcher, died last year.

Copyright 2008 by UPI

Share/Save/Bookmark

Article : Founder of Carl's Jr. chain dies at 90
Print this article
Email this article

Stay Updated
News gadget on your Google homepage
Subscribe to a news feed in Google Reader



Have your Say
Name
Email
Subject
Your Comment

Enter Verification code
 
  

 

 

More US (World) News click here
Follow The Earth Times
Subscribe to RSS Follow Earth Times on TwitterNews by email
Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 



 
Subscribe to free Earthtimes
News Alerts by Email Click here
For RSS Feeds Click here
or Create your own RSS

Add to Google Toolbar
Breaking News
Press Releases


The Earth Times
News Category

© 2009 www.earthtimes.org, The Earth Times, All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
Earth Times accept no responsibility or liability either directly or indirectly for views or opinions expressed in articles or comments.