Eddie Antar, the founder of the Crazy Eddie retail shops—a Greater New York electronics empire that peaked at 43 stores across four states but was later discovered to be a “shell operation”—died over the weekend at the age of 68. At one point, Antar’s company went public, and claimed over $350 million in annual revenue, before he was convicted of large-scale securities fraud (he used to fly to Israel with cash strapped to himself!).
But the Crazy Eddie outfit, despite its fate, was known best for its advertising. Over a 14-year period, Crazy Eddie ran over 7,500 unforgettable commercials on radio and TV—30-second bit-encapsulations of an overheated, screaming “Crazy Eddie” (played by comedian Jerry Carroll) who obnoxiously reminded viewers that deals were always ready to be had, even during “Christmas in August.” The rant-filled commercials were about as good a distillation of 1970s-and 1980s-era New York Jewish mishagas as possible. In fact, they were “insane.”
In 1990, after his company’s collapse, Antar flew to Israel and was later extradited to the U.S. Reported the New York Times:
Sam E. Antar, a cousin of Eddie’s, was the company’s chief financial officer. He pleaded guilty to fraud and testified against Eddie, describing how the company had inflated inventory and sales figures. He later became a consultant to government agencies investigating accounting fraud.
In a plea bargain, Eddie Antar pleaded guilty to one charge of racketeering conspiracy and served nearly seven years in federal prison. His brother, Mitchell, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy and a count of making false statements and also served time in prison.
In 2001, Mr. Antar joined with some former associates to remake Crazy Eddie as an internet company, but the effort ultimately fell apart.
Here’s a clip from CNBC of Eddie and Sam meeting for the first time in 30 years:
Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.
