Bernard King

Bernard James King (25 March 193420 December 2002) was an Australian stage actor, celebrity chef, and television personality.

Early life

King was born into a farming family in Maleny, Queensland. He attended a Christian Brothers College in Nudgee on a scholarship. After his graduation he became a school teacher.

Acting career King entered his first talent competition at age eight. He also participated in a World War II fund-raising effort, Smokes for Six Soldiers. While attending college he gained a reputation as a keen student and a powerful debater.

Even though he was working full-time as a teacher after graduation, he found time to participate in amateur theatre productions and variety shows. Part-time work on ABC Radio eventually became sufficient to allow him to give up the teaching post.

His career as a chef began almost accidentally, due to a party he hosted for English actress Vivien Leigh and the Stratford on Avon Theatre Company. The dinner, for 50 people, was at his small apartment in Brisbane. One of the attendees was Maureen Kissell, host of ABC's program A Woman's World; she was so impressed that she invited him to present a cooking demonstration on her show in Sydney.

Another party at his residence, attended by Good Morning Australia hostess Del Cartwright, resulted in an invitation to demonstrate his prowess on that program. That soon became a regular part of the program, and then a separate 30-minute program, King's Kitchen.

He became a judge on the daytime TV talent show Pot of Gold, then Pot Luck, and New Faces. He soon gained a reputation as an acerbic judge. King took pride in steering the talentless away from show business. His biographer, Stephanie Clifford-Smith, says "Fidelity wasn't top of his list". His partner of thirteen years was Alan Marshall.

In later years, King struggled with his finances. He mortgaged his house to fund a second season at the troubled Parramatta Riverside Theatres. The season was a flop, and the house was lost.

King died mid-morning on 20 December 2002 in the garden of a house where he was living rent-free in exchange for gardening duties