Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing California's Gold and his human interest show Visiting... with Huell Howser, produced by KCET in Los Angeles for California PBS stations. The archive of his video chronicles offers an enhanced understanding of the history, culture, and people of California. He also voiced the Backson in Winnie the Pooh (2011).
Early life
Howser was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, on October 18, 1945, to Harold Chamberlain and Jewell Havens (Burnley) Howser. Howser's first name is a portmanteau of his parents' given names, Harold and Jewell, as Howser explained in the California's Gold episode "Smartsville."
Howser graduated from the University School of Nashville in 1963, then studied history and political science at the University of Tennessee, where he served as student body president.
Career
After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and on the staff of U.S. Senator Howard Baker, Howser began his television career at WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, where he produced shows focused on human interest stories, such as Happy Features and The Happy World of Huell Howser. Howser was also a television personality working for the University of Tennessee.
After working in New York City as the host of WCBS-TV's Real Life show, Howser moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1981 to work as a reporter for KCBS-TV. During 1982 and 1983, he served as weekend host and correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. In 1983, he joined KCET (then a PBS affiliate) as host and producer of Videolog, a series of brief human-interest segments running less than 10 minutes each, that aired in between the station's shorter programs to fill up air time. "Videolog" eventually became one of the more popular programs on KCET, and in 1990, the show was expanded to half hour-long episodes. Included in Videolog was lint artist Slater Barron among other topics relevant to Los Angeles and adjacent communities.
California's Gold
In 1991, after spending his vacation driving across the Golden State and visiting with all 13 PBS stations in California, California's Gold premiered in April of that year. California's Gold highlights small towns, landmarks, events, or places of interest throughout California that are not well known to the general public. Howser conducted informal, often impromptu, interviews with locals involved with the sites he visited. He also produced California's Communities, California's Golden Fairs, Downtown, California's Water, California's Green, California's Golden Coast, California's Golden Parks, Road Trip, Visiting... with Huell Howser, California Missions, Palm Springs, Our Neighborhoods, The Bench, and various specials.
Visiting... with Huell Howser
Visiting... with Huell Howser was a weekly PBS series hosted by Howser that originally aired from 1991 until his retirement in 2012 that focused on "the diverse people, places, and events that make southern California such a unique community." As of 2020, KCET, and other Southern California PBS continue to rerun this popular series. Episodes can be viewed on demand on the Chapman University, and PBS affiliates' websites.
Personal life
Howser lived in the historic El Royale apartments in Los Angeles, California, in an apartment which had previously been home to character actor William Frawley. Howser also had homes in Palm Springs and Twentynine Palms.
On June 29, 2015, Howser's Twentynine Palms home became available for rentals and weddings.
Howser mentioned that he was a Methodist during his episode covering the Nevada County Fair on California's Golden Fairs.
Volcano House
In 2003, Howser purchased the 1,800-square-foot Volcano House, situated on a volcanic cinder cone just outside Barstow in Newberry Springs, along with 60 acres of desert and a man-made lake. In 2010, Howser put the unusual residence on the market for $650,000.
In June 2012, The Panther, a student-run newspaper for Chapman University, announced that Howser had donated the Volcano House to the school. On September 3, 2015, Chapman University sold the Volcano House for $750,000.
Retirement and death
On November 27, 2012, The Sacramento Bee reported that Howser was retiring from making new shows, amid speculation in the television community that he was seriously ill.
On January 7, 2013, Howser died at his Palm Springs home, at the age of 67. He had been battling cancer for several years and his death certificate listed metastatic prostate cancer as the cause. Howser's body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea off the coast of Los Angeles County.
On January 15, 2013, a memorial was held for Howser, who said before his death that he did not want a funeral as he did not want attention.
I still enjoy watching Huell in California's Gold.
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 1 dash Dash ground red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 slices white bread, crusts removed and slices cut in half diagonally
- 4 cups (16 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese
- Preheat oven to 400º. Coat a 2-quart souffle or baking dish (with 4-inch sides) with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, thoroughly beat together the eggs, milk, ground red pepper, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Line bottom of prepared baking dish with 4 bread halves. Sprinkle with one-third of the cheese and pour one-third of the milk mixture on top; press down. Repeat layers twice. Press everything down lightly to saturate the bread.
- Bake 45 minutes, or until brown and bubbly, and a knife inserted through center shows that bottom is set.
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