David Tallichet

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Personal

Vocation

American businessman, noted as the father of the themed restaurant although his first themed restaurant was preceded by several well known restaurants with the same theme. He also owned a significant number of classic military aircraft. In 1958, Tallichet and SeaWorld founder George Millay formed Specialty Restaurants Corporation, a destination-restaurant business. Their first location was a Polynesian-themed Reef in Long Beach, California, and the second was Castaway in Burbank, California. At that time, a restaurant with an exotic "theme" was a daring innovation. Twenty years later, funny or exotic restaurant themes had become a well-accepted part of the American landscape. Tallichet continued to design, finance and build more than 100 other restaurants across the U.S. His sister, film actress Margaret Tallichet, was the longtime wife of renowned film director William Wyler. Tallichet died at his home in Orange, California, of complications from prostate cancer, on 31 October 2007. Link to Wikipedia biography