Holly A. (Lewis) Lewis

Holly Lewis, 46 of Murdock, NE died Friday, June 22, 2012 at her home in Murdock.  Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Monday, June 25, 2012, at St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church in Hazard, NE with Father Martin Egging officiating.  Cremation will follow the service with burial at a later date.  There will be no visitation.  Memorials are suggested to the Litchfield Cemetery or donor’s choice. 

Holly Lewis was born December 26, 1965 in Grand Island to Cortez and Rita Lewis.
She grew up in Litchfield participating in many activities including 4-H, athletics, speech and drama.  She won outstanding performer in Nebraska State one-act play production in 1983.

Holly went on to graduate from Arizona University with degree in the Bachelor of Arts, before moving to San Francisco to start work in commodity brokering.   Unfulfilled in her job, she quit and moved to Los Angeles to start her amazing careers in acting and film producing.

Holly has starred opposite many name talent, including Noah Wylie (ER) in the cult classic, Pirates of Silicon Valley, where she portrayed the computer mouse inventor, Adele Goldberg.  She appeared in dozens of other films.

Holly’s Prilosec campaign was meant for Brett Favre, unable to shot the spot, the entire campaign was changed to target women using Holly as an obsessed football fan.  The campaign was monumental because Holly’s football fan character revolutionized how women were marketed using sports to convey their message. An enormous print ad campaign followed, spanning Sunday paper coupons ads to life-size display stands in Walgreens, to six foot posters hanging from the ceiling of Sam’s Club.  The commercial was so popular, a Saturday Night Live skit aired, spoofing Holly’s character.

Holly’s Dave’s Place commercial aired during the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies for six consecutive years being seen by millions of viewers.  Holly’s American Express commercial, Reunion, was directed by Joe Pytka and was the commercial that opened the 2000 Academy Awards with over 46 million viewers.   Holly also starred in Grand Theft Auto - San Andres.  The best-selling game of all time on PlayStation 2.

Partnering with her husband, Raider Rhotenacher, Holly produced two short award-winning films using the mediums of Super 16 and Digital.  Holly’s short film OSCAR, was accepted and played at the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival in France and won second place in an Omaha Film Festival.

With over ten years tenure with Bear Stearns / JP Morgan brokerage services in Los Angeles, Holly took on the challenge of completing her Series 7 and Series 66.

Personally, Holly climbed mountains, scaling 12 of the 13 highest peaks in Southern California, including Mt Whitney, the highest mountain in 48 contiguous states. She also enjoyed daily strolls down Melrose Avenue or Sunset Boulevard.

Although she moved back to Nebraska to be closer with family, she was not ready to give up the Hollywood dream.  Holly would partner with her friend, Christine Fiore, in order to develop and produce the feature film, The Persian Pickle Club.

She is survived by her husband, Raider.

She is also survived by: her parents, Cortez and Rita from Litchfield; her sister, Lori and husband, Shawn Zutavern and their children; Drew Dimas and husband, Jose, Anna Zutavern and Russ Zutavern; her brother Mark Lewis and his son, Coy Lewis and her brother, Scott Lewis and his daughter, Taylor Lewis.

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