Swedish Chef Claims He's Muppet Inspiration

In the early 1970’s, Swedish chef Lars Kuprik Bäkman was on Good Morning America, demonstrating cooking techniques and preparing dishes. From those television appearances, Chef Bäkman believes, Jim Henson took his inspiration for the Muppet character of the Swedish Chef, who speaks in a mock-Swedish babble and uses unconventional kitchen tools, such as a tennis racket. “Yes, I'm sure it's me. I used to look exactly like that," said the 64-year-old Bäkman. But Muppet Show writer Jerry Juhl denies Bäkman’s claim: “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.”