Jeff Smith (TV personality)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeff Smith (January 22, 1939 – July 7, 2004) was the author of a dozen best-selling cookbooks and the host of The Frugal Gourmet, a popular American cooking show that began in Tacoma, Washington and aired on PBS from 1988 to 1997.

[edit] Biography

Jeff Smith was born on January 22, 1939. He attended the University of Puget Sound and Drew University in New Jersey. Smith graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1962 and from Drew University in 1965. He started off as a United Methodist minister whose first food-related venture was the Chaplain's Pantry, a deli and kitchen supply store near downtown Tacoma, where he offered cooking classes to the public. Soon after launching the show in Tacoma, he received a cooking show on a local PBS member station in Seattle. With an appearance on the Phil Donahue show and a move to Chicago, his career took off.

His public career came to an end when two of his male assistant chefs brought charges of sexual harassment against him. Shortly thereafter, in 1998, several men alleged that he had sexually assaulted them in the 1970s, when they worked for him.<ref>Superior Court of the State of Washington complaint archived by TheSmokingGun.com</ref> Smith denied the accusations. He was taken off the air shortly afterward. Though he was never charged with a crime, the stigma associated with the accusations (including an undisclosed settlement with the plaintiffs three days before trial) kept him from returning to the airwaves.<ref>"Cooking star pays plaintiffs in sexual abuse suits" by Steve Behrens, Current.org, July 27, 1998</ref>

According to The Seattle Times obituary, Smith was known in the industry as a "food genius." Kathy Casey, the Times's food columnist said that "he knew more about food and culture than anybody I know in the food world." She also mentioned that Smith had been a generous philanthropist - donating both money and time to charitable causes and helping individuals get started in the food industry, even after the abuse allegations short-circuited his career. He died in his sleep of heart disease.<ref>Jeff Smith, 1939 - 2004: "Frugal Gourmet" was popular on PBS obituary by Judith Blake, The Seattle Times</ref>