RIP: Robert Brooks (Hooters Chairman)

Hooters chairman dies at age of 69

Updated Mon. Jul. 17 2006 11:30 PM ET

Associated Press

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina -- The chairman of the Hooters restaurant chain has been found dead at his home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Robert Brooks was 69.

It's unclear how he died and an autopsy will be performed Monday.

Brooks made his fortune selling chicken wings served by scantily clad waitresses.

Since opening its first store in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983, the Hooters chain has expanded across the United States and into more than a dozen foreign countries, including Canada.

Hooters has about 61 (m) million annual visitors to its more than 400 restaurants.

Brooks and a group of Atlanta investors bought expansion and franchise rights for the chain in 1984.

He eventually bought majority control and became chairman.