Frank Granat

Frank Granat (11 March 1929, New York City — 29 July 2017, Ojai, California) was an American film and Broadway producer and restaurateur. He extensively collaborated with George W. George (1920—2007) in a production team responsible for several Broadway musicals and Hollywood movies, such as Ben Franklin in Paris (1964), Guy Green's romantic comedy Pretty Polly (1967), and Twisted Nerve (1968) thriller directed by Roy Boulting of The Boulting Brothers. Granat co-founded New Jersey's Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in 1974 with Warner LeRoy (1935—2001). The only son of Leo Granat (1888—1955) of the renowned jewelry firm Granat Brothers, Franklin grew up in San Francisco and graduated from Stanford University in 1950. He spent several years traveling across Europe, playing jazz on piano alongside his lifelong friend Bobby Short. After returning to the States, Frank Granat settled in New York and began working with a prolific Broadway producer, George W. George, son of cartoonist Rube Goldberg. In 1974, Frank partnered with entrepreneur Warner LeRoy to launch the "Great Adventure" theme park in New Jersey. Three years later, Granat opened the "Knickerbocker Bar & Grill" in Greenwich Village; it became a notable live music venue, particularly favored by jazz pianists like Billy Taylor, Junior Mance, Roland Hanna, and Mary Lou Williams, to name just a few. He has lived in California since 1992.