Harold Butler

In 1953, Butler and his partner Richard Jezak opened Danny's Donuts in Lakewood, California. In 1955, after his partner's departure from the then 6-store chain, Butler changed the concept in 1956 from a donut shop to a coffee shop with store #8. Danny's Donuts was renamed Danny's Coffee Shops and changed its operation to 24 hours. In 1959, to avoid confusion with Los Angeles restaurant chain Coffee Dan's, Under his leadership, the chain expanded to 800 locations. He once explained, "I love to feed people." When the deal collapsed, Denny's stock price steeply declined. He sold his Denny's stock, once worth $80 million, for $3 million in 1971 and resigned as chairman.

Butler died of a heart attack on July 9, 1998, three days after his 77th birthday, in La Paz, Mexico, where he had retired. He was survived by his wife Jean (once a Denny's waitress and franchisee).