Johnnie Cradock
Encyclopedia
Major John "Johnnie" Whitby Cradock (17 May 1904 Lambeth
, London, England – 30 January 1987 Basingstoke
, Hampshire, England) was a cook, writer and broadcaster and the fourth husband of television cook and writer Fanny Cradock
.
He attended Harrow School
and served in the British Army
, reaching the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery
.
He is best remembered as being the long-suffering stooge for his wife in their popular United Kingdom cooking programmes which were shown from the 1950s to the 1970s. Wearing a traditional blazer
and sporting a monocle
above his trademark handlebar moustache
, he would remain around the back of Fanny's studio sets awaiting her imperious commands which, when they came, often resulted his being berated for being too slow.
With his wife, he wrote a number of popular cookbooks. Johnnie and Fanny also wrote the "Bon Viveur" restaurant column for the Daily Telegraph newspaper from 1950 to 1955. This was one of Britain's first restaurant columns and led to their first television series in 1955.
At first they presented the BBC's "Kitchen Magic", but were soon poached by ITV's first cooking programme, which they presented as "Fanny & Johnnie".
At that time Johnnie and Fanny were not married. Fanny adopted his name for their writing and television work and they eventually married in 1977. The marriage was in fact bigamous as Fanny was still married to her second husband, and fraudulent as she lied about her age on the marriage certificate.
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
, London, England – 30 January 1987 Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
, Hampshire, England) was a cook, writer and broadcaster and the fourth husband of television cook and writer Fanny Cradock
Fanny Cradock
Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey , better known as Fanny Cradock, was an English restaurant critic, television cook and writer who mostly worked with her then common-law husband Johnnie Cradock, adopting his surname long before they married. She was the daughter of the novelist and lyricist Archibald...
.
He attended Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, reaching the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
.
He is best remembered as being the long-suffering stooge for his wife in their popular United Kingdom cooking programmes which were shown from the 1950s to the 1970s. Wearing a traditional blazer
Blazer
A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...
and sporting a monocle
Monocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing...
above his trademark handlebar moustache
Handlebar moustache
A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy, upward curved, extremities. It is named for its resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle. It is also known as a "spaghetti moustache", because of its stereotypical association with Italian men...
, he would remain around the back of Fanny's studio sets awaiting her imperious commands which, when they came, often resulted his being berated for being too slow.
With his wife, he wrote a number of popular cookbooks. Johnnie and Fanny also wrote the "Bon Viveur" restaurant column for the Daily Telegraph newspaper from 1950 to 1955. This was one of Britain's first restaurant columns and led to their first television series in 1955.
At first they presented the BBC's "Kitchen Magic", but were soon poached by ITV's first cooking programme, which they presented as "Fanny & Johnnie".
At that time Johnnie and Fanny were not married. Fanny adopted his name for their writing and television work and they eventually married in 1977. The marriage was in fact bigamous as Fanny was still married to her second husband, and fraudulent as she lied about her age on the marriage certificate.
TV series
- Fanny's Kitchen
- Chez Bon Viveur
- The Cradocks
- Dinner Party
- Fanny Cradock Invites
- Cradock Cooks for Christmas
Publications (with Fanny Cradock)
- Fanny & Johnnie's Cook's Essential Alphabet (1979) - ISBN 0-491-02307-3
- Fanny & Johnnie Cradock's Freezer Book (1978) - ISBN 0-491-02313-8
- Fanny & Johnnie Cradock's Cook Hostess' Book (1970) - ISBN 0-00-435151-7
- The Daily Telegraph Cook's Book by Bon Viveur (1964) - ISBN 0-00-611940-9
- Something's Burning: The Autobiography of Two Cooks (1960) - ISBN B0000CKKMR