 Galloping Gourmet - - The showbiz nickname
of Graham Kerr, a celebrated cooking and nutrition expert who hosted the Emmy
nominated program THE GALLOPING GOURMET/SYN/1968-71 produced by his
wife, Treena Kerr at CJOH-TV in Ottawa, Canada. Kerr especially liked cooking
with lots of butter and cream and drinking wine - he was often seen "sipping the
grape" in between recipe steps.
In 1971, The Galloping Gourmet franchise suddenly
came to a crashing conclusion when Graham and his wife suffered from a serious
car accident (leaving Graham temporarily paralyzed on hi left side). Thankfully,
they both recovered but as a result of their accident, the Kerr's experienced a
spiritual conversion, abandoned their television career, and liquidated much of
his wealth (mansions, yachts and cars) to create projects designed to help the
world's needy.
During their rehabilitation, the Kerr's set to sea in a 71-foot
sailboat named "Treena" and subsequently traveled some 24,000 miles around the
globe with their children, Tessa, Andrew and Kareena.
In 1981, Graham and Treena
co-founded Creative Lifestyle International, Inc., an organization that shows
people how to live better with less money, convert habits that hurt into
provisions that heal and pass the benefits on to the world's disadvantaged.
In
1988, Graham returned to TV with the cooking show SIMPLY MARVELOUS followed by a
daily half-hour television series called GRAHAM KERR/ SYN/1990. The taped 39
segments stressed the use of more healthful foods-less salt, fat and meat in the
diet. This program was the result of Treena's heart attack in 1986 and Graham's
search for new cooking style (called "Minimax,") that offered food with
minimized health risks. Other public television shows with Graham Kerr include
GRAHAM KERR'S KITCHEN, SWIFTLY SEASONED and THE GATHERING PLACE.
Graham has also
published a number of best-selling books including "Smart Cooking" (Doubleday,
1991), "Graham Kerr's Swiftly Seasoned" (Putnam, 1997), "Minimax" (Doubleday, 1992),
"Graham Kerr's Kitchen" (Putnam, 1996), "Graham Kerr's Best" (Putnam, 1996) and
"The
Gathering Place" (Camano, 1997).
Born in London in 1934, Graham Kerr worked as a
the Roebuck Hotel in East Sussex, England and later served five years in the
British Army as a catering advisor. After his stint in the military he worked as
a manager of the Royal Ascot Hotel in England.
Graham married British stage
actress Treena Van Doom in 1955 and then in 1958, he moved to Wellington, New
Zealand where he was appointed chief catering advisor for the Royal New Zealand
Air Force.
Later in Australia, Graham starred in a successful cooking show called EGGS
WITH FLIGHT LIEUTENANT KERR. When he returned to Canada in 1969, he became THE
GALLOPING GOURMET and the rest is history. The Kerr's now lives in Kirkland,
Washington.
TRIVIA NOTE: On the sitcom ARNIE/CBS/1970-72
Charles Nelson Reilly played Arnie Nuvo's neighbor, Randy Robinson, a gourmet
cook who hosted his own TV program called "The Giddyap Gourmet," an obvious
parody of the real Galloping Gourmet.
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