Peter Fairchild; Restaurateur, Portrait Artist

Peter Fairchild, 83, portrait artist for film stars and well-known restaurateur. Fairchild painted such luminaries as Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, Mickey Rooney, Gloria Vanderbilt and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He also invested heavily in Southern California real estate and racehorses, and created popular entertainment venues that attracted his Hollywood friends. In the 1940s, he operated Peter Fairchild’s restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard, which he helped turn into “Restaurant Row.” The eatery was so posh that it included an air-conditioned kennel, complete with a fire hydrant and gourmet canine fare, where customers could deposit their pets while they dined. By the 1970s, Fairchild was the proprietor of the Santa Barbara Inn, which touted such amenities as a security penthouse suite with its own elevator and paper shredder. In recent years, with partner Peter Pappas, he had operated a golf club in Palm Springs. On Tuesday in Palm Springs.