PASSINGS: Murray Lender, Samuel Glazer
Notable deaths of 2012 (Ron Frehm / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (David Longstreath / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (John Duricka / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Lucy Pemoni / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Victoria Will / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Andre Luiz / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Ron Edmonds / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Charles Rex Abrogast / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Elizabeth Conley / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Eric Gay / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Jim Mone / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Walt Zeboski / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (David Van Der Veen / AFP / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Ray Howard / Associated Press)
With his silky voice and and casual style, the baritone most famous for his rendition of “Moon River” was one of America’s top vocalists from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was 84. Full obituary
Notable deaths of 2012
Notable deaths of 2012 (Carlo Allegri / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (John Marshall Mantel / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Gus Ruelas / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Santi Visalli / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Jim Hollander / EPA)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Charles Sykes / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (George Wilhelm / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Diether Endlicher / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Hassan Ammar / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Ed Rode / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Nati Harnik / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Alexander Joe / AFP / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Olivier Ferrand / Capitol Records)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2012 (Jakub Mosur / For The Times)
Notable deaths of 2011 (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2011 (Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2011 (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Murray Lender
Chief executive of bagel company
Murray Lender, 81, who helped turn his father’s small Connecticut bakery into a national company credited with introducing bagels to many Americans, died Wednesday at a Miami hospital of complications from a fall several weeks ago, said his wife, Gillie Lender.
Lender’s father, Harry, immigrated to the United States from Lublin, Poland, in 1927 and opened what would become Lender’s Bagels that year in an 800-square-foot bakery in New Haven, Conn.
Murray Lender was born in 1930, and four years later Harry Lender bought a larger bakery as the business prospered. Murray and his brothers all went on to work for the family business.
The Lenders began selling bagels in packages to supermarkets in 1955. In 1960, two years after Harry Lender died, the Lenders started freezing their bagels and shipping them across the country.
Murray served as the company’s chief executive and was known for promoting Lender’s Bagels in TV commercials. He also became chairman of the National Frozen Food Assn.
The family sold the bagel business to Kraft Foods in 1984. Pinnacle Foods Group has owned Lender’s Bagels since 2003.
Samuel Glazer
Co-owner of firm that made Mr. Coffee coffeemakers
Samuel Glazer, 89, co-owner of the company that revolutionized American mornings with the Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker, died March 12 at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland of complications of leukemia.
Glazer and his North American Systems business partner, Vincent Marotta Sr., hired engineers to develop an automatic drip coffee maker for use at home. The company introduced the Mr. Coffee coffee maker in 1972 to compete with percolator and instant coffee methods.
Mr. Coffee became a huge success. A corporate online history says that within three years Mr. Coffee was the top-selling coffee maker in the U.S. The brand also got a big boost from its longtime pitchman, New York Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio.
The partners sold North American Systems in 1987 for $182 million.
Glazer was born in Cleveland in 1923 and served in the Army during World War II. Over the years, he was involved in many business ventures, including developing shopping malls and housing.
Times staff and wire reports
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for the L.A. Times biggest news, features and recommendations in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.