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The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character from the
sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
television series ''
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...
,'' known for his eccentric
culinary Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...
skills and communicating in mock Swedish gibberish. He was originally performed by
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
and
Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...
simultaneously, with Henson performing the head and voice and Oz performing the character with real hands. The Swedish Chef is currently performed by Bill Barretta with Peter Linz performing the character's hands. He is best known for his ridiculous cooking methods and the phrase "Bork, bork, bork!".


Character

A parody of television chefs, the Swedish Chef wears a '' toque blanche'', has a thick brown moustache and has bushy eyebrows that completely obscure his eyes. He was one of the few Muppets to employ an actual
puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...
's visible hands, which extended from the ends of his sleeves and facilitated handling food and utensils. Frank Oz originally provided the character's hands. Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches on ''The Muppet Show'' feature him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing an introductory song in a mock language – a semi-comprehensible
gibberish Gibberish, also known as jibber-jabber or gobbledygook, is speech that is (or appears to be) nonsense: ranging across speech sounds that are not actual words, pseudowords, language games and specialized jargon that seems nonsensical to outsid ...
supposedly mimicking Swedish
phonology Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often pre ...
and prosody. The song's lyrics vary slightly from one episode to the next, but always end with "Bork, bork, bork!" as the Chef throws the utensils aside, occasionally knocking items off a shelf or the back wall in the process. After this introduction, the Chef begins to prepare a recipe while giving a gibberish explanation of what he is doing. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue in the viewer to what he is attempting. These hints are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, sports equipment, hand tools, etc.) to prepare his dishes. (e.g. "See de moofin? Und here de boom-a-shootin" before tossing an English muffin into the air and blowing a hole through it with a blunderbuss to make a
doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...
.) The sketch typically degenerates into a
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
finale where the equipment or ingredients (often a live animal he is attempting to cook) get the better of him. The Chef is referred to by name in one episode, in which Danny Kaye plays his uncle. Kaye reels off a very long name but adds, "But we call him Tom" – much to the Chef's amusement. In 2010, the Chef was seen wearing a wedding ring, implying that the character is married.


Inspiration

Some claim that the Swedish Chef was inspired by a real-life chef. One example is Friedman Paul Erhardt, a
German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...
television chef known as "Chef Tell". Another example is Lars Bäckman, a real-life Swedish chef. Bäckman claims that his rather unsuccessful appearance on an early edition of ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' caught the attention of
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
, who later bought the rights to the recording and created Bäckman's Muppet alter ego. Bäckman's Dalecarlian accent would explain the chef's strange pronunciation. Muppet writer Jerry Juhl denied Bäckman's story and insisted the character had no real-world counterpart: "I wrote, rehearsed, rewrote, brainstormed, and giggled uncontrollably a thousand times with Jim Henson as we dealt with the Swedish Chef, and I never once heard him mention an actual Swedish chef..." According to Brian Henson, in one of his introductions for ''The Muppet Show'', "
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
had this tape that he used to play which was 'How to Speak Mock Swedish'. And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef." According to Juhl, "Jim spent a couple of weeks listening to Berlitz tapes while commuting to get his babble perfected. Then, much later, I actually WROTE the babble! Heck, I come from good Danish stock, which Jim and I decided made me an expert in Scandenavian linguistics." When interviewed on the subject in Swedish magazine ''
Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...
'' in 1985, Jim Henson claimed that "one of my writers came up with the idea that the chef should sound like the Swedish actors in
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
films".


Performance

The Swedish Chef is a variation of a live-hand Muppet. The Chef's lead performer, originally Jim Henson, uses his dominant hand to perform the character's head and mouth, and provides his mock Swedish dialogue. Both hands of a second puppeteer, originally Frank Oz, serve as those of the Chef, which, in a twist on the formula, are actual human hands instead of puppet gloves, allowing him to better interact with the food he prepares and the tools he uses. In recent years, the Chef has been sometimes seen wearing a wedding ring, one belonging to
Steve Whitmire Steven Lawrence Whitmire (born September 24, 1959) is an American puppeteer, known primarily for his work on '' The Muppets'' and ''Sesame Street''. Beginning his involvement with the Muppets in 1978, Whitmire originated the roles of Rizzo the R ...
, who usually performed his hands during the majority of Bill Barretta's tenure as the character. Since Whitmire's departure from the Muppets, Peter Linz has served as the Chef's hands.


In Sweden and other countries

The Muppets have not had the same cultural impact in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
as in the United States. In Sweden, the Swedish Chef's name was translated as , meaning the "Swedish cook". A 2012 ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
'' article stated that "the fact that his nonsense words are so widely interpreted as Swedish-sounding is bewildering and annoying to Swedes" and argued that Swedes don't find the character funny at all; the author Jeremy Stahl quoted his wife who said the character "doesn't sound Swedish, doesn't act Swedish, and there's nothing Swedish about him. He's not funny." The linguist Tomas Riad said "it's not funny for us to laugh at. It's funny for other people to laugh at." To many Swedes, the sing-song quality of the character's mock language is suggestive of Norwegian, not Swedish. In the German-dubbed version of ''The Muppet Show'', the Chef is Danish rather than Swedish, and his name is .


Appearances

Besides appearances in ''The Muppet Show'', the chef also appears in '' The Muppet Movie'' (1979), '' The Great Muppet Caper'' (1981), '' The Muppets Take Manhattan'' (1984), '' The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years'' (1986), '' A Muppet Family Christmas'' (1987), '' Muppet*Vision 3D'' (1991), an attraction found at Disney's Hollywood Studios, '' The Muppet Christmas Carol'' (1992), ''
Muppet Treasure Island ''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American Musical film, musical Swashbuckler film, swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson and the fifth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Ro ...
'' (1996), '' Muppets From Space'' (1999), '' It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie'' (2002), '' The Muppets' Wizard of Oz'' (2005), '' Studio DC: Almost Live'' (2008), a sketch for the cast of '' The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and an episode with ''
Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...
'' star Jason Earles and '' Cory in the House'' star Jason Dolley, the Muppet viral video "
Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns, or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of p ...
" (2010), ''
The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...
'' (2011), '' Muppets Most Wanted'' (2014), a regular role on ''The Muppets'' (2015), and also appearing as a guest alongside
Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is a The Muppets, Muppet character known for her Breakthrough role, breakout role in the sketch comedy television series ''The Muppet Show''. She is notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, her tendency to use French l ...
on the 5th season of ''MasterChef Junior'' (2017). A younger version of the Swedish Chef appeared on the Disney Junior series '' Muppet Babies'' where he was referred to simply as Chef. The Swedish Chef has also appeared in a 2013 " This is SportsCenter" commercial with Robert Flores, Henrik Lundqvist, Steve Levy, and Linda Cohn. He appears in ''
Muppets Now ''Muppets Now'' is an American television series produced by The Muppets Studio for Disney+. Directed by Kirk Thatcher, the series is an improvised situation comedy, improvisational comedy based on The Muppets (franchise), ''The Muppets'' franch ...
'' on the segment "Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkïñ" in which he competes against celebrity chefs. In 2020, he appeared in the cooking
simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...
video game '' Overcooked: All You Can Eat'' as a playable character. Swedish Chef appears as a playable character in ''Disney Heroes: Battle Mode'', a mobile game featuring Disney characters.


Casting history


Main performers

*
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
: '' The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence'' – '' The Muppets at Walt Disney World'' * Bill Barretta: ''
Muppet Treasure Island ''Muppet Treasure Island'' is a 1996 American Musical film, musical Swashbuckler film, swashbuckler comedy film directed by Brian Henson and the fifth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Adapted from the 1883 novel ''Treasure Island'' by Ro ...
'' – present


Other performers

* David Rudman: '' The Muppet Christmas Carol'' *
Steve Whitmire Steven Lawrence Whitmire (born September 24, 1959) is an American puppeteer, known primarily for his work on '' The Muppets'' and ''Sesame Street''. Beginning his involvement with the Muppets in 1978, Whitmire originated the roles of Rizzo the R ...
: ''
A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'' – ''I Love Lucy Movie Mania'' (Screen Tests) * Victor Yerrid: ''From the Balcony'': Episode 26


See also

* Cröonchy Stars *
Swedish cuisine Swedish cuisine () is the traditional food of Sweden. Due to Sweden's large north-to-south expanse, there are regional differences between the cuisine of Norrland, North and South Sweden. Historically, in the far north, meats such as reindeer, ...
* De Düva


References


External links

* {{Authority control The Muppets characters Fictional chefs Fictional Swedish people Male characters in television Television characters introduced in 1975 de:Die Muppet Show#Der dänische Koch