Harry Jay Katz, 75, bon vivant
Harry Jay Katz, 75, of East Falls, a well-known man-about-town in Philadelphia for a half-century, died Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park.
Harry Jay Katz, 75, of East Falls, a well-known man-about-town in Philadelphia for a half-century, died Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park.
His family said that he had been admitted a few days earlier after several months at the Hillcrest Center nursing home in Wyncote.
The manner of death was natural, and he died peacefully, his family said. The Montgomery County Coroner's Office confirmed that there was nothing about his death to qualify it as a case for the medical examiner.
Although his parents were wealthy - his father's money came from a machine-making venture - and Mr. Katz could have coasted without working, he dabbled in a number of ventures. Some were successful, others not.
His biggest accomplishment was reopening the magnificent Erlanger Theatre at 21st and Market Streets in the late 1960s as a nightclub, café, and venue for theater productions.
His biggest failure came in the late 1960s, when his plan to open a Playboy Club on Broad Street in Center City was blocked by then-Philadelphia Police Commissioner Frank L. Rizzo.
Mr. Katz also launched a local weekly newspaper called ElectriCity, the Philadelphia Film and Video Commission, and a Center City steak house named Hesch's (Yiddish for Harry's) on the site of the former Frankie Bradley's at Juniper and Chancellor Streets in 1987. It lasted about two years.
He also wrote a column called "Katz Meow" for the alternative Philadelphia weekly the Drummer from 1972 until 1979, when he was successfully sued for libel. In 1978, he wrote that an Inquirer employee, Elsa Goss, had groped him under the table during a feminist conference in Mexico City. The case was settled for $130,000. He later admitted he made up the whole thing.
But to most Philadelphians, Mr. Katz's reputation as a playboy and bon vivant preceded him into a room, especially in the 1970s. He loved nothing better than a late-night bar, some attractive companions, and a frosted-over martini glass of Ketel One vodka.
His life was controversial. On March 4, 1995, he found former teacher Valerie Sheridan, 35, whom he had dated, dead in his hot tub after a long night of partying at his home on School House Lane. An autopsy found she had used alcohol, cocaine, and prescription medications prior to getting into the tub.
The death was ruled an accident and Mr. Katz was cleared of any wrongdoing, but he said afterward that the incident marked a low spot.
"I've never been at a lower ebb in my entire life," he told the Daily News in May 1995. "Never. Ever. I have not had a good night's sleep since this thing happened. It's changed my whole life. I'm a mess. Absolutely a mess."
Weeks later, he indicated that some of the public criticism about his Casanova lifestyle had sunk in.
"Part of what I am is the facade I develop - you know, 'Bubbie, baby,' " he told the Daily News. "But internally, there's more remorse than I knew I had the ability to have."
Mr. Katz was married four times, first to Julia Mae Levin, then to Andrea Diehl, then to Tracey Birnhak, and finally to Debra Renee Katz.
He was close to his four children. "I could put them in a hoagie roll and eat them up, I love them so much," he told the Daily News.
An Army veteran, Mr. Katz was born and reared in Melrose Park. He was a graduate of Pennington (N.J.) School and attended Pennsylvania State University.
Besides his wife and two former wives, from whom he was divorced, he is survived by sons David B. and Zachary; daughters Susan Levin and Jessica Mazzenga; seven grandchildren; and two brothers. Tracey Birnhak Katz died in 2004.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at Joseph Levine and Sons Memorial Chapel, 4737 Street Rd., Trevose. Interment is in Roosevelt Memorial Park.
Donations may be made to the American Playwriting Foundation via www.americanplaywritingfoundation.org/.
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Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky contributed to this article.