Cora Irene Sund

c. 1910–1974

Built out Don the Beachcombers as a real business, expanding it across the United States

Sund met and married Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (Donn Beach) in Hollywood in the 1930s, with Gantt opening Don’s Beachcomber, the first of what would later be known as exotic restaurants. The bar was wildly successful and Sund became Gantt’s business partner, raising money to expand the business, which they began (first to Chicago) in 1940. The marriage didn’t last, but Sund and Gantt remained business partners, with Gantt as figurehead and host, and Sund running the growing business behind the scenes. Through the 40s and 50s, Sund grew Don the Beachcomber’s to some sixteen locations, selling the business to Getty Enterprises in 1968.