Longtime TV chef Mr. Food, 81
Art Ginsburg, the television chef known as Mr. Food, died at his home in Weston, Fla., on Wednesday after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. Hewas 81.
Ginsburg - who enticed viewers for decades with a can-do focus on easy weeknight cooking and the tagline “Ooh! It’s so good!” - was diagnosed just over a year ago. The cancer had gone into remission after early treatments and surgery but returned earlier this month.
Ginsburg had an unlikely formula for success in this era of reality cooking shows, flashy chefs and artisanal foods. With a pleasantly goofy, grandfatherly manner and a willingness to embrace processed foods, Ginsburg endeared himself to millions of home cooks via 90-second segments syndicated to 125 local televisionstations around the country.
And though he published 52 Mr. Food-related cookbooks, selling more than 8 million copies, he was little known to the nation’s foodies and mostlyignored by the glossy magazines. That was the way he liked it.
“They’re on the Food Network. They’re getting a lot of national publicity. And they’re getting big money,” he said of fellow food celebrities during a 2010 interview. “I was always the hometown guy. I don’t want to be the super celebrity.When you need bodyguards, that’s not my deal.”
Ginsburg grew up in the meat business, and eventually started his own catering company. He made his television debut in 1975 in upstate New York on a local morning program. His popularity peaked in 2007, when he was appearing on 168 stations.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 16 on 11/22/2012