Leroy Haynes (7 January 1914 â 1986) was an American restaurateur and actor. As an actor, he appeared in The Butterfly Affair, Bons Baisers de Hong Kong, and Ace High. His restaurant Chez Haynes in Paris, France, became an iconic restaurant that was visited by well known actors and entertainers.
Leroy "Roughouse" Haynes was born Leroy Howard Milton Haynes in Clinton, Kentucky, United States, on January 7, 1914, to parents Robert Haynes and M. C. Curine Lena. A student of the arts, he was a Morehouse graduate who earned the nickname "Roughouse" from his football playing days. He enlisted in the U.S. army, serving from 1946 to 1949, during which time he went to Europe. While stationed in Germany, he would go to Paris, where he chose to remain after completing his service, leaving with the rank of a chief warrant officer in Europe. In 1949, he married Gabrielle Lecarbonnier, a young French woman. Together they opened "Gabby and Haynes", and later Chez Haynes. Culinary historian Adrian Miller in his book Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time (2013) quoted a newspaper saying in 1966 that the restaurant restaurant "would make Haynes America's unofficial ambassador to France for down home cooking and, later, for soul food." As part of Parisian African-American culinary history, he has been honored by Electra Weston in her performances. From the 1960s, he acted in movies of the gangster genre. He was also the president of the American Fellowship for a period of time.
Haynes died in 1986. His widow Maria dos Santos continued running the restaurant for 23 years after his death, until it closed in 2009.
His soul food restaurant was opened in 1949. They would serve fried chicken and chitlins, beans and rice, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. The clientele included African Americans living in Paris, as well as others visiting, also white Europeans wanting to try the food. Haynes and his restaurant feature in the French film La Bonzesse (1974), directed by François Jouffa.
In 1961, Haynes had an early film role was in Un nommé La Rocca, directed by Jean Becker. He then appeared in Le gorille a mordu l'archevêque in 1962. His last film roles included being in the 1975 Yvan Chiffre-directed Bons Baisers de Hong Kong (From Hong Kong with Love).