Julia Child
About Julia Child
Tall (6'2"), imposing, American culinary personality extraordinaire who has brought a regal, quasi-British authority and calorie-crammed delights to the American public for over three decades. After training as a French chef in Paris (and opening a cooking school soon afterwards) while her husband worked for the American Embassy, Child returned to the US in 1961. She made a guest appearance on a local Boston TV show, and was soon thereafter offered her own cooking instruction program. "The French Chef" became one of the longest running series in the history of public broadcasting and, along with her companion series, "Julia Child & Company," "Dinner with Julia" and "Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home" (with French chef Jacques Pepin), proved just how fascinating it can be to watch someone cook.
Good-humored as well as no-nonsense on the air, Child broadened her culinary expertise rapidly through the years, soon leaving eager viewers in suspense as to whether she would perform a perfect pea soup, mess around with moussaka or titillate with a toasted apricot meringue. Beginning in 1980 she hosted a regular segment on ABC's "Good Morning America" and her domination of the world of un-fast food was insured with a series of best-selling cookbooks and videotapes. Dan Aykroyd's memorable spoof of Child's unflappable gentility (even when bleeding to death) was a high point in the hilarious "Saturday Night Live" skits of the 70s and 80s.
| Name: | Relation: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Child | husband | married from September 1946 until his death in 1994; also a member of the OSS during WWII; the two met while working together in China |
| Has also hosted the TV series, "Julia Child & Company" and "Dinner with Julia" | |
| Husband Paul Child joined the US state department after the war and was assigned to the Embassy in Paris; the couple lived there for six years during which Child studied French cooking | |
| Opened a cooking school, L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, in France with partners Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle during the 1950s | |
| Served as a clerk in the OSS during WWII; met future husband who was a mapmaker | |
| 1954 | With Beck and Bertholle contracted to write cookbook, "French Cooking in America"; published in 1961 |
| 1961 | Returned to the United States; settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| 1963 | Debuted her long-running series on PBS, "The French Chef" |
| 1980 | Appeared regularly as a correspondent and cooking editor on ABC's "Good Morning America" |
| 1980 | Was the first woman elected a member of the American chapter of the chef's society, La Commanderie des Cordons Bleus de France |
| 1985 | Aired a week-long special series, "Julia Child in Italy"; rebroadcast in 1986-87 |
| 1985 | Hosted a series of six one-hour videotapes, "The Way to Cook" |
| 1990 | Appeared on "The American Red Cross Emergency Test" |
| 1992 | Celebrated her 30th anniversary on PBS |
| 1993 | Became first woman to be inducted into the Culinary Institute Hall of Fame |
Notes
Child also tours the country promoting the American Institute of Wine and Food, a non-profit organization of professionals and consumers concerned with the quality and safety of what people eat and drink.
Child is a breast cancer survivor having undergone a mastectomy in 1969.
Child is a sponsor of the International Culinary Fellowship.
Child was a recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award, for "distinguished achievement in television" (1965)
Child was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the French government in November 2000.
In November 2001, Gary Ibsen, the founder of TomatoFest in Carmel, California, announced that an organic tomato had been named in honor of the chef. A limited number of seeds for the Julia Child tomato would be sold with part of the proceeds going to The American Institute of Wine & Food.
She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
She is a recipient of the L'Ordre de Merite Agricole that was awarded by the French government (1976)
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Quick Facts
Born
August, 15 1912 in Pasadena, California
Education
- Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts
- Cordon Bleu, Paris, France
Professions
chef, TV host, cookbook author, assistant advertising manager