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 Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

. 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 Pen ...

, 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, 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 ch ...

'' (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 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 ...

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough of ...

, 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) a ...

, 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 S ...

.TV's first masterchef
Caroline Brandenburger, ''The Telegraph'', 24 August 2000.
Includes his "foolproof" recipe for chocolate cake. He compered a

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

Marguerite Patten Hilda Elsie Marguerite Patten, (née Brown; 4 November 1915 – 4 June 2015), was a British home economist, food writer and broadcaster. She was one of the earliest celebrity chefs (a term that she disliked at first) who became known during Wo ...

) 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!". Philip Harben can be credited with the first TV "moment" when on live television he cracked an egg that was so bad he had to abandon the recipe while he and the studio crew broke into helpless laughter. He had a regular column in the British ''

Woman's Own ''Woman's Own'' is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women. Publication ''Woman's Own'' was first published in 1932 by Newnes. In its early years it placed women's rights and social problems firmly in the foreground. Its first "agony aunt" wa ...

'' magazine in the 1950s. In 1958, he helped found the Harbenware kitchen utensils company which, in 2020, is still operating under the same ownership. He died on 27 April 1970, aged 63, and was buried on the west side of London's

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

Other appearances

*He appeared as himself in the film ''

Meet Mr. Lucifer ''Meet Mr. Lucifer'' is a black-and-white British comedy satire film released in 1953 starring Stanley Holloway. It was filmed at Ealing Studios, London, and is one of the Ealing comedies. The film is based on the play ''Beggar My Neighbour'' b ...

'' (1953), instantly recognisable by his educated accent, expansive manner, ample girth and neatly trimmed beard (and in his trademark black and white striped apron). *He appeared as himself in the

Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

film '' Man of the Moment'' (1955), in which Wisdom interrupts his television appearance while being chased by crooks. * He appeared as a contestant on the American panel game show ''

What's My Line ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' on a 25 March 1956 episode. He also previously appeared as a panellist on the UK version.

References in popular culture

*In

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...

's play ''

Separate Tables ''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the ...

: Table Number Seven'', Mr. Fowler, Lady Matheson and Mrs Railton-Bell leave the table in distress to watch "dear Philip Harben".

Publications

*''The Way to Cook'', London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1945 *''Cooking Quickly'', London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1946 *''Entertaining at Home'' (with Katharine Harben), London: Bodley Head, 1951 *''Television Cooking Book'' London: Oldhams Press, 1951 *''The Pocket Book of Modern Cooking'', News of the World, 1951 *''The Young Cook'', London: Peter Nevill, 1952 *''Cooking with Harben'' (ed. Katharine Harben), London: Herbert Jenkins, 1953 *''Traditional Dishes of Britain'', London: Bodley Head, 1953 *''Philip Harben's Cookery Encyclopedia'', London: Odhams, 1955 *''The Teen-age Cook'', London: Arco 1957 *''Best Dishes from Europe'', London: Arco, 1958 *''Best Quick Supper Dishes'', London: Arco, 1958 *''Best Party Dishes'' 1958 *''Cooking'', Penguin, 1960 *''Philip Harben's Book of the Frying Pan'', London: Bodley Head, 1960 *''Imperial Frying with Philip Harben'', London: Bodley Head, 1961 *''The Grammar of Cookery'', London: Penguin, 1965 *''The Way I Cook'', London: Frewin, 1965 *''The Tools of Cookery'', London: Hodder Paperbacks, 1968. *''Cooking Quickly'', Brighton: Clifton Books, 1969. *''Philip Harben's Count Down Cookery'', London: Dent, 1971.

References

Sources

*
"Philip Harben", Cooksinfo.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harben, Philip 1906 births 1970 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People educated at Highgate School English chefs English television chefs People from Fulham Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War II Army Catering Corps soldiers