Russell Morash (February 11, 1936 – June 20, 2024) was an American television producer and director. Morash's many educational television programs such as The French Chef, The Victory Garden, MIT Science Reporter, This Old House, and The New Yankee Workshop, were produced through WGBH and aired on PBS.
His work earned fourteen Emmy awards, and he was the 2014 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys.
Early life
editMorash was born on February 11, 1936, in Lexington, Massachusetts.[1] He grew up in Lexington. Morash's father was a builder.[2] In 1957, Morash graduated from the Boston University College of Fine Arts.[3]
Career
editMorash started his entertainment career as a cameraman for Boston public-television station WGBH-TV.[4] In 1961, as a cameraman, Morash met Julia Child when she appeared on a WGBH program called I've Been Reading, while promoting her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Viewers flooded the station with calls and letters asking to see more. The French Chef premiered on WGBH in 1962 and then was distributed nationally by American Public Television.[5] Morash began directing The French Chef in 1963.[2][4][6] They worked together on other cooking shows for more than thirty years.[6]
Morash's theater-inspired directorial style, and the technology of the day, required that the staff and host—all collected in a makeshift studio cobbled together with equipment that had escaped a massive station fire—would shoot each episode in one take. It established an in-the-moment template for a new kind of public television show that Morash took with him to launch other series, such as This Old House and The Victory Garden.[7]
The Victory Garden and This Old House spinoff series The New Yankee Workshop were filmed in Morash's own backyard in Massachusetts.[6]
Filmography
edit- 1955 MIT Science Reporter – Director, producer[8]
- 1962–1966 The French Chef – Director, producer[9]
Personal life
editMorash's wife was Marian Morash, a James Beard Award-winning chef who also appeared on Julia Child's cooking show, appeared on The Victory Garden and edited The Victory Garden Cookbook.[2][10][3]
WGBH announced that Russell died on June 20, 2024, leaving behind a legacy as the founding "commanding father" of the how-to genre of educational television.[11]
Recognition
editMorash's work earned 14 Emmy awards, including 11 for Outstanding Director of a Service Show, and in 2014 the Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in 2018.[11][12]
He was a fellow of the National Association of Garden Writers and the 2005 recipient of the George Robert White Medal of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.[11]
Portrayals
editFran Kranz plays Morash in the 2022 HBO Max series Julia with Sarah Lancashire.[13]
References
edit- ^ White, Peter (June 24, 2024). "Russell Morash Dies: 'This Old House' Creator & Julia Child Producer Was 88". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
- ^ a b c Beretto, Holly (December 2016). "A DYI Legacy Interview with Famed Public Television Producer Russell Morash". newengland.com. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
- ^ a b "Russell and Marian Morash". newwookiee.com. March 15, 2011. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
- ^ a b Klein, Michael (November 18, 2021). "New 'Julia' documentary shows Julia Child as a cultural trailblazer beyond food". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- ^ "Create TV: Julia Child History". createtv.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c Foster, R. Daniel (June 22, 2019). "'This Old House' creator Russell Morash's visionary career". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
- ^ Seay, Bob (August 10, 2012). "First 'French Chef' Director Russ Morash Remembers Julia Child". wgbh.org. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ "John T. Fitch with Russell Morash, Jr. and Carolyn Carr". MIT Museum. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ^ "In-depth with Russell Morash, the father of This Old House, Victory Garden, French Chef with Julia Child". LAist. Southern California Public Radio. October 9, 2010. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ^ "Marian Morash". James Beard Foundation. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
- ^ a b c Scherer, James (June 20, 2024). "'This Old House' creator Russell Morash has died". wgbh.org. Archived from the original on June 22, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ Carthan, Alexis (June 21, 2024). "'This Old House' Pays Tribute to Creator Russell Morash". This Old House. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 14, 2021). "HBO Max Orders Julia Child Series 'Julia' Starring Sarah Lancashire & David Hyde Pierce". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
External links
edit- Russell Morash on the This Old House Web site
- Russell Morash at IMDb
- "At Work and at Home, They've Done It Themselves"—Boston Globe article