FLORIDA -- Art Ginsburg, the delightfully dorky television chef known as Mr. Food, has died at his home in Weston, Fla.
Ginsburg, who was 81, enticed viewers for decades with a can-do focus on easy weeknight cooking and the tagline "Ooh! It's so good!" He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just over a year ago and died Wednesday. The cancer had gone into remission following 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 television stations around the country.
Mr. Food ran on CNY Central station WTVH/CBS-5 for many years.
Ginsburg published a number of cookbooks and debuted on television debut in 1975, reports Yahoo News. Mr. Food became syndicated by 1980 and reached a peak of 168 stations in 2007.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
