Philip Hubert Kendal Jerrold Harben (17 October 1906 – 27 April 1970) was an English cook, recognised as the first TV
celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...
.
Biography
Harben was born in
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, London, and was educated at
Highgate School.
His mother,
Mary Jerrold
Mary Jerrold (4 December 1877 – 3 March 1955) was an English actress. She was married to actor Hubert Harben, and mother of actress Joan Harben and celebrity chef Philip Harben.
She made her London stage debut as Prudence Dering in ''Mary Penn ...
, was an actress known for her performance as the murderous Martha Brewster in the first stage production of ''
Arsenic and Old Lace'' as well as many screen roles. His father,
Hubert Harben
Leonard Hubert S Harben (12 July 1878 – 24 August 1941) was an English stage and film actor. He was married to the actress Mary Jerrold and father of celebrity chef Philip Harben.
Selected filmography
* ''Mr. Pim Passes By'' (1921)
* ''Every ...
, was a stage actor. His sister,
Joan Harben, played Miss Mona Lott in the BBC Radio series ''
It's That Man Again
''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other cha ...
'' (ITMA). He learned to cook at the side of his parents, and "could scramble eggs and make mayonnaise long before I could read Thucydides or solve a quadratic equation".
[
His first occupation was as a commercial photographer.][ He was then engaged to run the kitchen of the ]Isobar restaurant
Isobar may refer to:
* Isobar (meteorology), a line connecting points of equal atmospheric pressure reduced to sea level on the maps.
* Isobaric process, a process taking place at constant pressure
* Isobar (nuclide), one of multiple nuclides with ...
in the Isokon building
Isokon Flats, also known as Lawn Road Flats and the Isokon building, on Lawn Road in the Belsize Park district of the London Borough of Camden, is a reinforced concrete block of 36 flats (originally 32), designed by Canadian engineer Wells Coa ...
in Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
, London from 1937 to 1940, when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, but an eye injury put an end to his flying career and he was assigned to the Army Catering Corps
The Army Catering Corps (ACC) was a corps of the British Army, responsible for the feeding of all Army units. It was formed in 1941 and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993.
History
In 1938 Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Secretary of ...
.[TV's first masterchef]
Caroline Brandenburger, ''The Telegraph'', 24 August 2000.
Includes his "foolproof" recipe for chocolate cake.
He compered a BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
wireless cookery programme from 1942, then a BBC TV programme, ''Cookery'', from 1946 to 1951, followed by ''Cookery Lesson'' (with co-presenter
) and ''What's Cooking'' from 1956. His emphasis was always on method and principles rather than recipes, but he could be remarkably dogmatic – "The Pot to the Kettle not the Kettle to the Pot!".