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ABC News
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Peter Russell-Clarke
The ABC pays tribute to much-loved television chef, author and artist Peter Russell-Clarke. Peter became a household name in the 1980s on the ABC's popular cooking show Come and Get It, hosting more than 900 episodes between 1983-1992. His passion for good food and ability to connect with audiences left a lasting mark on Australian food culture and television. He was known for his trademark neckerchief and signature catchphrases 'G'day' and 'Where's the cheese?' Peter will be fondly remembered, and we extend our sincere condolences to his family.
The Guardian
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Celebrity chef Peter Russell-Clarke dies aged 89
TV chef, artist and 'talented rogue', Peter Russell-Clarke, has died at the age of 89. The host of the 1980s cooking show, Come and Get It, died peacefully on Friday with his wife of 65 years, Jan, and his two children, Peter and Wendy and their families, by his side. His close friend Beverley Pinder said Russell-Clarke died from complications after a stroke. 'Adieu, Peter Russell-Clarke – the lovable larrikin artist and gentleman,' she said in a statement. 'We know him best as one of Australia's first TV cooks. But Peter Russell-Clarke was a phenomenon – years ahead of his time.' Born in the Great Depression, Russell-Clarke became a political cartoonist, creative director, actor, restaurateur, food ambassador for the UN and author of almost 40 recipe books, she said – in addition to his TV presenting. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'The mischievous Aussie larrikin with a full beard and eyes that twinkled found his happy place in television in the 70s and 80s', she said. 'His lexicon, while teaching generations of Aussies how to cook, was peppered with 'g'days', 'rippers' and 'you beauts'', she said, adding that he often told viewers: 'Whether you are cooking or painting, follow your imagination'. According to the statement, Russell-Clarke once lived on the streets of Melbourne, foraging for discarded food behind Florentino restaurant on Bourke Street. Pinder told Guardian Australia she had known Russell-Clarke since she was 22. 'The magic of Peter was legendary – it was magnetic,' she said. 'He fascinated me. The way he engaged with people and kids, that easy-going, laconic style, making everyone feel so at ease, just won the hearts of generations of Australians,' she said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'That bohemian style made people feel so easy and connected all around him. I have two paintings of his and I'll cherish those until the day I die.' His collaborator, the former senator, Derryn Hinch, posted on social media platform X: 'G'Day. Me ol' mate, Peter Russell-Clarke, the Egg Man, has died. He really was a talented likable rogue.'
ABC News
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Australian celebrity chef Peter Russell-Clarke dies aged 89
Television chef, author and artist Peter Russell-Clarke has died, aged 89. Family friend Belinda Pinder confirmed his death on Sunday afternoon. Reports suggested he died after complications from a stroke. Born in Ballarat in 1935, Russell-Clarke began his career at age 14, working a junior artist at an advertising agency, before moving into freelance cartooning and working as a food consultant for popular magazines, including New Idea and Woman's Day. He went on to produce his own cookbooks before shooting to wider fame through his catchy "g'days" which featured in the theme song of his 1980s ABC cooking show Come and Get it. The show ran from 1983 to 1992, with 900 episodes written and hosted by Russell-Clarke wearing his signature neckerchief. His appearances on Come and Get It made him one of Australia's pioneering TV celebrity chefs. "I realised that the bloke in front of the camera got more applause than the person who wrote it," he told the ABC in 2017. "So I wrote myself into the series and I became known as a cook rather than a painter or a writer." For more than two decades starting in the mid 70s, he was also a popular spokesperson and TV and radio presenter for the Australian Dairy Corporation, as well as for companies such as the Australian Egg Board and Kraft Cheese. Russell-Clarke was also the chef for the Prince of Wales's Silver Jubilee dinner in 1977. He was also invited to cook for Australian prime ministers, Victorian premiers, and the Duke of Edinburgh. He also wrote at least 35 cookbooks and was a United Nations food ambassador. As a child, displaced from his rural Victorian home after the separation of his parents, Russell-Clarke spent time in foster homes and, briefly, and on the streets of Melbourne, a period which he told SWILL magazine in 2023 led to his appreciation of fine food and different cuisines. But Russell-Clarke started painting long before his interest in the culinary arts grew. He worked as a commercial artist for about 65 years, including for 10 years as the political cartoonist for The Herald newspaper in Melbourne. In 2022, Russell-Clarke told the National Portrait Gallery about the similarities between his love for cooking and painting. "[While painting,] you're mucking around with colour, form, texture, shape. And with cooking, you're doing the same thing," he said. "Cooking is only supplying heat to food. The same as painting. Painting is supplying paint to a surface, whether it's a canvas or a piece of cardboard." His artworks have been featured in exhibitions in Australia and overseas, at private venues, auctioned at the Shepparton Art Museum and collected by the National Immigration Museum. Russell-Clarke was even commissioned to produce several pieces for the federal government. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jan, their two children Peter and Wendy, and three grandchildren. The ABC has contacted the family for comment.
