Jeff Smith, shown here in 1995, was a white-bearded minister who became public television's popular "Frugal Gourmet" before a pedophilia scandal ruined his career.
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:07 p.m. ET July 09, 2004SEATTLE - Jeff Smith, a white-bearded minister who became public television?s popular ?Frugal Gourmet? before a sex scandal ruined his career, has died, his business manager said Friday. He was 65.
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Smith died in his sleep Wednesday, Jim Paddleford said. He had long suffered from heart disease and had a valve replaced in 1981.
In the 1960s, Smith, a United Methodist minister, began teaching a course at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma titled ?Food as Sacrament and Celebration.?
Eventually he got his own program on the local PBS affiliate ? ?Cooking Fish Creatively? ? and his career took off with an appearance on Phil Donahue?s talk show.
?The Frugal Gourmet? became the nation?s most-watched cooking show, and a series of accompanying cookbooks broke sales records for the category.
But in 1997, seven men filed a lawsuit alleging they had been sexually abused by Smith as youths. Six said the abuse occurred while they worked for him at the Chaplain?s Pantry, a restaurant he operated in Tacoma in the 1970s. The seventh alleged Smith abused him after picking him up as a hitchhiker in 1992.
Smith was soon off the air.
Smith denied the allegations and was never charged with a crime. He and his insurance companies paid an undisclosed sum to settle the lawsuit.
Smith is survived by his wife, Patricia, and two sons.
© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
My mom watched his show every day on the local PBS station and I admit watched it too sometimes.Its a shame hes dead
Topic: TV?s Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, dies (Read 809 times)