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Since 1989, Cave Thomas, who died at age 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV.He appeared in more than 800 commercials(advertisements)for the hamburger chain named for his daughter.“As long as it works,”he said in 1991,“I'll continue to do those commercials.”
Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood.“He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper-fitting shoes,”Wendy said in 1993.Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Dalamazoo in Michigan.After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work.“He fed me,”Thomas said,“and if I got out of line, he'd beat me.”
Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants.But he had something much better in mind.“I thought if I owned a restaurant,”he said,“I could eat for free.”A 1956 meeting with Harland Samders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in1968.
In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers.With 6,ooo restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $6 billion a year in sales.
Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four children.He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(基金会)for Adoption in 1992.
In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida.He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party.The kids voted him Most Likely to succeed.
“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave,”says friend Pat Williams,“He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker.He was just Joe Everybody.”