Fred Hayman

Fred Jules Pollag (May 29, 1925 – April 14, 2016), known professionally as Fred Hayman, was a Swiss-born American fashion retailer and entrepreneur, founder of Giorgio Beverly Hills in 1961 in Beverly Hills, California. He was also known as "Mr. Beverly Hills" and "Mr. Rodeo Drive".

Early life Hayman was born to a Jewish family in St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1925, the son of Richard Pollag and Irma Levy. His sister Yvette is four years older than him. After his father died, his mother married Julius Haymann (two n's), who already had a son, Eugene. His family emigrated to New York during World War II, where Hayman found work as an apprentice chef at the Waldorf-Astoria.

In 1943, Hayman joined the United States Navy, but stayed in the US training with the Navy to become a dentist until 1946, when he went to Paris and Mexico City, before returning to work at the Waldorf-Astoria. The store had a reading room, pool table and oak bar, so that men could amuse themselves while the women shopped.

Customers included Natalie Wood, Princess Grace, Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan, Diana Ross, Charlton Heston, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Honors

In 2011, Hayman was honored with a plaque on the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style. Also in 2011, Rose Apodaca published a biography of Hayman, Fred Hayman—The Extraordinary Difference. Together with his wife, he has donated to the Maple Counseling Center in Beverly Hills.

Personal life Hayman married four times, three of which ended in divorce. The first wife was Thelma Bertrand. He married Dr. Barbara Sziraki in 1957. Barbara Hayman is the mother of his three children; Charles Edward Hayman who resides in Jerusalem with his wife Diane and four children, Robert Gabriel Hayman who resides in Malibu with his wife Denise and their two children, and Nicole Hayman who resides in St. Charles, Missouri with her four children. Hayman's third wife was Gale Gardner, whom he married in 1966,

Hayman's first three marriages ended in divorce. He was survived by his wife, Betty Endo; two sons, Charles and Robert; a daughter, Nicole Hayman; and 10 grandchildren.