“I was hungry the first seven years of my life,” says the tall strapping chef in a heavy German accent. “I grew up during the war, and food was rationed. My mother used to tell me to become a chef so that I would always have enough food.”

Trained in the classic European manner through years of apprenticeship at some of the finest hotels and restaurants in France, Germany and Sweden, Chef Tell only found his true niche in life when he arrived in America at the age of twenty-eight. As assistant chef at Philadelphia’s Marriott hotel, Tell became a local celebrity almost instantly through his lively animated cooking segments on the city’s “Evening Magazine.”

“The show was so bland, I think the only thing that stood out were these segments. All of a sudden, everybody knows me. Everybody’s my friend.” Soon, Tell was doing comedy segments on “Saturday Night Live” and popping up on talk shows all over the country including “The John Davidson Show” & “LIVE! With Regis and Kathie Lee!” He even became the inspiration for the Muppet’s Swedish chef.