Celebrity Cooks

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Celebrity Cooks was a Canadian cooking show independently produced by Initiative Productions and aired on the CBC from 1975 to 1979, and was syndicated throughout Canada and the United States from 1980 to 1989. It was hosted by Bruno Gerussi who introduced various celebrities who chatted with them while preparing dishes for the audience. As such, it was considered a hybrid between a cooking show and a talk show.

Despite a shoestring budget, the show was a high quality product. It was criticized for its apparent inability to get more than strictly minor celebrities for the show, although it was still a highly rated program at the time. The show was taped in Vancouver, British Columbia, concurrently with Gerrusi's starring role in The Beachcombers which was also filmed in the vicinity. Due to his visibility on Celebrity Cooks, Gerrusi became the pitchman for one of the first brands of microwave ovens to be sold for home use in Canada.

Among the guests who appeared on the show was a pre-stardom David Letterman. According to the book TV North, guests were paid between $196 CAD (for Canadian performers) and $350 CAD (for American performers). American performers were paid more to offset the cost of higher travel expenses.

Other guests included Margaret Trudeau (aired 3 February 1978) ^[1], Jean Beliveau and Elaine Boosler. Hermione Gingold was the guest for the program's first broadcast on 15 September 1975. ^[2].

The show is best known internationally as featuring the last recorded appearance of Hogan's Heroes actor Bob Crane which was taped shortly before he was murdered. The episode was partially recreated in the biographical film, Auto Focus. The film alleges that Crane spent much of his time making lewd remarks directed at an audience member; if this really occurred, we will never know as the episode was taped over and never aired.

The film "Heart Like a Wheel", the story of female race car driver Shirley Muldowney, features a scene where Muldowney makes an appearance on a Canadian cooking show that appears to be a thinly disguised version of Celebrity Cooks. In the scene, the show's host is portrayed as a chauvinistic womanizer.

Following the end of production in 1979, episodes of Celebrity Cooks were seen on the Global Television Network. ^[3]

Guests were required to cook, sing, dance and play their way to supper.

The Show also led to the creation of three Celebrity Cooks cook books.

This show inspired "The King of the Q" Ted Reader to take up cooking.

[edit] Key People

Executive Producer: Derek Smith
Host: Bruno Gerussi
Cooking Consultant: Sue Morton

[edit] References

^ "Maggie's Tempura (photo)", Globe and Mail, 24 January 1978, pp. 15.
^ Kirby, Blaik. "Information packs the channels in bountiful new television season", Globe and Mail, 6 September 1975, pp. 31.
^ Downey, Donn. "Global planning five new shows", Globe and Mail, 13 February 1979, pp. 17.