Jimmy Murphy, who ran Beverly Hills restaurant, dies

LOS ANGELES -- Jimmy Murphy, the genial Irishman who reigned as a Beverly Hills dining room power broker for more than three decades, has died. The longtime maitre d', first at the Bistro in Beverly Hills and later at his own Jimmy's Beverly Hills, was an icon in the days when restaurants were better known for their dining room staffs than for the chefs who were working in their kitchens.

Murphy, 75, died at home in Beverly Hills on Friday afternoon after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, his family said.

Jimmy's was a favorite haunt of celebrities and socialites in the 1970s and '80s.

Among Murphy's regulars were Frank Sinatra, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Restaurant investors included Johnny Carson, Don Rickles and Bob Newhart, who emceed a celebrity gala in Murphy's honor in 1983.

The public relations firm Rogers & Cowan had its offices upstairs from the restaurant.

The secret to his success, Murphy once told the Los Angeles Times, was catering to his customers. "It's important to have a good retention of names and to remember people's favorite little things," he said in a 1982 interview. "People will come in and the waiter will automatically bring their drinks because he remembers their habits, what they like. For a birthday or anniversary, we'll bake a special cake. Or if a customer doesn't want dessert but has a yen for a little something sweet, we'll send over some little cookies. No, there's no charge."

One of his sons, Sean, remembers his father sitting for an hour before every lunch and dinner service plotting out exactly where everyone would sit. "He used to tell me it was like setting a stage play," he said.

SEE PHOTOSRecent notable deaths

In 1978, Murphy spent a then-astronomical nearly $1 million building an elegant 14,000-square-foot restaurant and cocktail lounge that would fit with his customers' expectations.

"It was a time when people really dressed up to go out," Murphy told Patricia Danaher in an interview for an Irish-American website. "They would buy new dresses, get their hair done because they were going to have dinner at Jimmy's. There was always glamour associated with it almost from Day One."

Murphy and his restaurant were regulars in Southern California society coverage.

But by the 1990s, the world was changing, and in 1998, Murphy closed the restaurant.

"Dining in an elegant setting is not what it used to be," he told the Times then. "It seems to be trendier. People are always looking for the newest thing."