Graham Victor Kerr (born 22 January 1934) is a British cooking personality who is best known for his television cooking show The Galloping Gourmet, which aired from 30 December 1968 to 14 September 1972.

Early life

Kerr was born in Brondesbury, north London. were hoteliers at the Dorset Arms in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England, then at Alexandra Hotel, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.

On the pronunciation of his family name, Kerr wrote in The Graham Kerr Cookbook that "my name is pronounced ‘care’ — not ‘cur’ , as in the case of Bill Kerr and not ‘car’ , as in the case of Deborah Kerr," respectively.

As a youth, he attended Michael Hall, a Waldorf school at Kidbrooke Park in Forest Row, East Sussex. After five years in the British Army, rising to lieutenant, he became general manager of the Royal Ascot Hotel.

In 1964, Kerr moved to Sydney, Many episodes featured a prerecorded segment with Kerr in a part of the world wherein that episode's dish originated. as a cue to the director to cut to commercials, then would bring it back up to his lips right before the show came back on. This gave the impression to some viewers that he was drinking heavily during the taping. In reality, he drank very little.

From 1969 to 1972 Kerr also made guest appearances on Monitor, a long-running NBC radio variety programme.

Personal setbacks, born-again Christianity and Take Kerr

Some near-tragedies caused Kerr to suspend his television career, thus ending the show. In April 1971, Kerr and his wife Treena were involved in a car crash in California. As a result of the accident, he suffered a dislocated spine and a weakened left arm. As therapy, Kerr wore a bracelet to strengthen the weakened arm. In January 1972, Treena was at first diagnosed with lung cancer. That diagnosis turned out to be incorrect; it was later determined she had tuberculosis. Although a part of a lung was removed, she made a full recovery. However, she became addicted to painkillers as well as several other medications.

In 1975, Treena became a born-again Christian after being encouraged by an employee; Kerr also became religious at the same time.

Kerr returned to television in 1975 with a daily syndicated five-minute series, Take Kerr, which featured a particular recipe for each show. This programme reflected his newfound embrace of both Christianity and healthful eating, with lighter-calorie recipes and Christian elements, including the use of the hymn "This Is the Day the Lord Has Made" as a theme song. This series was later repeated on CNN during its first year or two.

In a 1975 interview publicising Take Kerr, Kerr renounced the show The Galloping Gourmet, saying that "What I did wasn't art, it was a crime," given the increasing rate of obesity in the United States. He also apologised for two of his trademarks on that show, his wine drinking and his double entendres. a PBS TV special with Julia Child.

In 1996, Kerr, in his book of that year called Swiftly Seasoned, created the concept of a "Moulded Ethnic Vegetable," a baked combination of starches and vegetables seasoned with flavours characteristic of different ethnic cuisines. The "MEV," as he referred to it in recipes, was intended to remedy what he perceived as a lack of focus in vegetarian meals; according to Kerr, while omnivorous cuisine generally has a central focus in a meat dish, vegetarian plates are often little more than collections of side dishes, and the MEV was an attempt to provide a central focus for such meals. The MEV was not a widely successful concept, and a business venture to manufacture and sell a muffin tin–like MEV baking pan was not successful. (While it was generally intended to be vegetarian, Kerr did incorporate meats into some MEV recipes in later books.)

From 1996 to 2000, Kerr was also the editor-at-large for Cooking Light magazine. Also in 2003, Kerr was awarded an Honorary Life Member of the American Dietetic Association.

Influence

Celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter, as well as John Williams, the Executive Chef at the Ritz, have all stated that they were fans of The Galloping Gourmet as children.

Kerr resided in Mount Vernon, Washington, for several years. He moved to a retirement home in Warm Beach, Washington, in 2015, and tours the area. Kerr remarried in 2024.

He is a Christian.

Works

  • Kerr, G. (1963). Entertaining with Kerr. Wellington: A.H. and A.W. Reed
  • Kerr, G. (1966). The Graham Kerr Cookbook. Wellington: A.H. and A.W. Reed (this cookbook was released in a distinctive spiral binding, with heavy covers)
  • Kerr, G., & Evans, L. (1967). The galloping gourmets. Sydney: A.H. & A.W. Reed.
  • Kerr, G. (1969). The Graham Kerr cookbook, by the galloping gourmet. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
  • Kerr, G. (1970). The Galloping Gourmet's Kitchen Diary.
  • Kerr, G. (1972). The complete galloping gourmet cookbook. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.
  • Kerr, G. (Early 1970s). A Festive Occasion, Just For You (a record album). Fremantle Records.
  • Kerr, G. (1976). The new seasoning. New York: Simon & Schuster / Fleming H. Revell.
  • Kerr, G. (1978). The love feast: How good, natural, wholesome food can create a warm and lasting Christian family. New York: Simon & Schuster / Fleming H. Revell.
  • Kerr, G., & Kerr, T. (1982). The Graham Kerr Step By Step Cookbook. David C. Cook Publishing Company.
  • Kerr, G. (1991). Graham Kerr's smart cooking. New York: Doubleday.
  • Kerr, G. (1992). Graham Kerr's minimax cookbook. New York: Doubleday.
  • Kerr, G. (1994). Graham Kerr's kitchen. New York: G.P. Putnam's.
  • Kerr, G. (1995). Graham Kerr's best: A low fat, heart healthy cookbook. New York: G.P. Putnam's.
  • Kerr, G. (1996). Graham Kerr's swiftly seasoned. New York: G.P. Putnam's.
  • Kerr, G. (1997). The gathering place: Informal international menus that bring family and friends back to the table. Stanwood, WA: Camano Press.
  • Kerr, G. (2002). The gathering place: Featuring Nutrient-Rich Comfort Food. Quarry Press.
  • Kerr, G., & Suzanne, B. (2004). Graham Kerr's simply splenda cookbook. Alexandria, VA: Small Steps Press.
  • Kerr, G., & Kerr, T. (2004). Charting a course to wellness: Creative ways of living with heart disease and diabetes. Alexandria, VA: American Diabetes Association.
  • Kerr, G., & Kerr, T. (2006). Recipe For Life.
  • Kerr, T., & Kerr, G. (2007). Day by Day Gourmet Cookbook. Broadman & Holman.
  • Kerr, G., (2010). Growing at the Speed Of Life Putnam.
  • Kerr, G., (2015). Flash of Silver...the leap that changed my world. Stanwood, WA: Camano Press..

Television Cookbooks

In addition, seven volumes of Television Cookbooks, featuring recipes from The Galloping Gourmet series, were published from 1969 to 1971 by Fremantle International, the show's syndicator. Four versions were known to exist—a regular version and three additional versions released in conjunction with KABC-TV in Los Angeles, CBC Television in Canada, and the BBC in Britain. The Fremantle and KABC versions were hardcover, and the CBC and BBC versions, though identical in content, were softcover and GBC–bound, with different covers (with the BBC version under the title Entertaining with Kerr). These cookbooks were generally sold by mail order through the television series.

In 1972, the cookbooks were re-released with new colour covers and sold in bookshops. This new version was sold by Paperback Library but, despite the publisher's name, the books were hardcover.

See also

  • List of New Zealand television personalities

References

  • https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/graham-kerr/biography
  • https://todayinottawashistory.wordpress.com/2017/07/15/the-galloping-gourmet/
  • Graham Kerr interview 2003 Seattle Times
  • WSLR Doug Miles

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