Was Harvey Specter from Suits named after a convicted murderer?

Harvey Specter. 

He’s the suave co-protagonist in Suits, one of the world’s biggest TV shows that continues to be streamed by millions, despite it finishing in 2019.

But was he named after someone imprisoned for shooting a woman dead? 

Phillip ‘Phil’ Spector was one of the most successful music producers of the 1960s and 70s, working in collaboration with famous acts such as The Beatles, Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen, and The Ramones.

But by 2009, Phil Spector was in jail, after being found guilty of murdering actress Lana Clarkson in his Los Angeles home in 2003. 

‘You’re drawing a long bow,’ I hear you say, ‘The spelling of Specter/Spector isn’t even the same.’ 

True.

But get this, Phil Spector’s birth name… was Harvey Philip Spector. 

Those with a keen ear will remember the Suits version of Harvey revealing in Season Two, Episode Seven, that his middle name is Reginald.

So there’s that difference.

But there’s an eerie symbolism between the two when it comes to how they like their music.  

Phil Spector was known for his ‘Wall of Sound' style in recording. Put simply, it was a production style that enhanced the music when played on a radio or jukebox. 

Harvey Specter on Suits had a wall of sound of his own. Remember that wall of vinyl records in his office? The one no one was allowed to mess with? 

Couldn't be a coincidence could it?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes, a coincidence is all it is, because the truth is Harvey Specter was not named after Phil Spector.

How do we know?

Suits series creator Aaron Korsh responded to a tweet in August 2014 that Harvey was named after a guy he used to work for - not Phil Specter, who died in jail in 2021. 

In awesome news for Suits fans, Korsh recently revealed a spin-off would be coming to screens soon.

Titled Suits: LA, the series will star Stephen Amell as Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles.

I have looked up the records (no pun intended) and can safely say there has never been a well-renowned music producer named Ted Black.

You have to wonder then who he has been named after.