About Friedman Paul Erhardt
Friedman Paul Erhardt was a German American pioneering early television chef. He was known as "Chef Tell" to his 40 million fans. He is widely regarded as one of the first chefs to enjoy widespread popularity on American television. Former Philadelphia Inquirer food writer, Elaine Tait, wrote, "Chef Tell is America's pioneer TV showman chef whose food always tastes good." Erhardt's thick German accent reportedly made him the inspiration for the Swedish Chef, a well known Muppet character on The Muppet Show, although Brian Henson denies this. Erhardt made his first television debut on a local Philadelphia television show called Dialing for Dollars in 1974.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.