Holly Lewis

MURDOCK - Holly Lewis, 46, of Murdock died Friday, June 22, 2012, at home.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in Hazard, with the Rev. Martin Egging officiating. Cremation will follow the service, with burial at a later date.

There will be no visitation. Higgins Funeral Home in Loup City is in charge of arrangements.

Holly Lewis was born Dec. 26, 1965, in Grand Island to Cortez and Rita Lewis.

Survivors of the immediate family include her husband, Raider.

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

She grew up in Litchfield, participating in many activities, including 4-H, athletics, speech and drama. She was named the outstanding performer in the Nebraska State one-act play production in 1983.

Holly went on to graduate from Arizona University with a bachelor of arts degree 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 big-name talents, including Noah Wylie ("ER") in the cult classic "Pirates of Silicon Valley," in which she portrayed the computer mouse inventor Adele Goldberg. She appeared in dozens of other films.

Holly's Prilosec campaign was meant for Brett Favre, who was unable to shoot 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 to, using sports to convey their message. An enormous print ad campaign followed, spanning Sunday paper coupons and 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 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 more than 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 more than a 10-year 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 Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the 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."

Memorials are suggested to the Litchfield Cemetery or donor's choice. You can sign Holly's guest book at higginsfuneralhomelc.com.

You may sign the online guestbook at theindependent.com/obits.