''Celebrity Cooks'' was a Canadian

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Ty ...

independently produced by ''Initiative Productions'' and aired on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

from 1975 to 1979 and on

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from 1980 to 1987. It was syndicated throughout

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the United States from 1980 to 1987. In the early 1990s, it continued in syndication in Canada.

Barrie, Ontario Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

-based CKVR later ran episodes in the 1990s that were also available in Toronto and surrounding areas for at least one season.

Bruno Gerussi Bruno Santos Gerussi (7 May 1928 – 21 November 1995) was a Canadian stage and television actor, best known for the lead role in the CBC Television series '' The Beachcombers''. He also performed onstage at the Stratford Festival, worked in rad ...

hosted 478 episodes in total. He introduced celebrities, saw guests perform and chatted with them while preparing dishes for the audience. The show began a successful run with the CBC and then moved to Global in 1980. In addition to the daytime programming, Global also developed 26 prime time episodes. The show continued to air in Canada with Global and on a few

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

owned-and-operated stations in the US until 1987. At that point, Initiative Productions and partners had produced 478 episodes. Among the guests who appeared on the show was a pre-stardom

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

. Other guests included

Margaret Trudeau Margaret Joan Trudeau ( Sinclair, formerly Kemper; born September 10, 1948) is a Canadian activist. She married Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, in 1971; three years after he became prime minister. They divorced in 1984, d ...

(aired 3 February 1978),

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Barry Morse Herbert Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the ABC television series '' The Fugitive'' and the British sci-fi drama '' ...

and

Elayne Boosler {{Orphan, date=July 2021 Elayne is a female given name of French origin, which means "light". The name can be a variant of Elaine or Elena. Elayne may refer to: People * Elayne Angel *Elayne Arrington * Elayne Boosler (born 1952), American comed ...

. An episode featuring guest

Bob Crane Robert Edward Crane (July 13, 1928 – June 29, 1978) was an American actor, drummer, radio personality, and disc jockey known for starring in the CBS situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Crane was a drummer from age 11, and he began his ente ...

was recorded on January 28, 1978. Crane was murdered on June 29, making this his last TV appearance. The episode was scheduled to air in the U.S. in July 1978, however given the circumstances it did not air at all in the U.S.. The episode did air several times in Canada, beginning in February 1978. Crane was joking about the subject of death during the episode's taping, besides discussing ''Hogan's Heroes'', the television series in which he starred. The taping of Crane's episode was recreated in the 2002 film, ''

Auto Focus ''Auto Focus'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on Robert Graysmith's book ''The Murder of Bob Crane'' (1993). ''Auto Focus ...

'', in which actor John Kapelos portrayed Gerussi.

Hermione Gingold Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character. Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and e ...

was the guest for the program's first broadcast on 15 September 1975. Derek Smith, the creator of ''Celebrity Cooks'', and now the executive producer with Upside Right Media Inc, is working to bring back the show in a new version with a new host. The host for the new version of the show is actress and improv specialist

Ellie Harvie Elinor Anne Harvie (born April 7, 1965) is a Canadian actress who portrayed Morticia on ''The New Addams Family''. Later, she starred as Dr. Lindsey Novak in ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis''. Harvie was the youngest of five childre ...

in much the same format as the original show. The show also led to the creation of Celebrity Cooks cook books: *1977: ''Celebrity Cooks, Recipe Book II'' (Fforbez Enterprises/Initiative Productions) , *1979: ''The New Celebrity Cooks Cookbook'' ( Methuen)

Key people

*Creator: Derek Smith *Developed by: Derek Smith and Keith Large *Executive Producers: Keith Large and Derek Smith *Host:

*Musical Duo:Jim Walchuck and Henri Lorieau *Cooking Consultants: Helga Theilmann and

Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...

''(Season 1 & 2,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

)'', Sue Morton & Chuck Norris ''(Seasons 3 to 12,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

)'' *Talent coordinator:Anne Kear *Executive Assistant to Derek Smith: Sharyn Manuel

References

External links

Official Celebrity Cooks with Bruno Gerussi Web Page TV Archive.ca:Celebrity Cooks Episode Guide Official Celebrity Cooks with Bruno Gerussi Facebook PageInternet Movie Database: Celebrity CooksTV Archive: Celebrity Cooks
{Dead link, date=July 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes 1975 Canadian television series debuts 1987 Canadian television series endings CBC Television original programming 1970s Canadian variety television series 1980s Canadian variety television series Global Television Network original programming 1970s Canadian cooking television series 1980s Canadian cooking television series