His father was a state Supreme Court judge and, unlike Jarvis, a member of the Democratic Party.

He served as a press officer for Herbert Hoover's 1932 presidential campaign and supported Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Subsequently, he ran several times for Mayor of Los Angeles on an anti-tax platform and gained a reputation as a harsh critic of government.

[6] In the campaign, Jarvis argued that lowering property tax rates would cause landlords to pass savings onto renters, who were upset at their rapidly rising rents driven by the high inflation of the 1970s.

[10] During the trial Jarvis argued that his erratic driving was the result of threats against his life which triggered fear and anxiety.

Jarvis was referring to Los Angeles city controller Ira Reiner, who is Jewish, and was a strong opponent of Proposition 9.

San Francisco Examiner reporter Jim Wood recalled hearing Jarvis only say "lying kike lawyer from Brooklyn" in reference to Reiner.

The slur also appears in print in Jarvis' 1979 book "I'm Mad as Hell: The Exclusive Story of the Tax Revolt and Its Leader".

His character apparently spends the entire movie sitting in an empty cab waiting for the driver (played by Robert Hays) to return, with the meter running all the while.