Today is the 108th birthday of chef, author, OSS international operative and television personality Julia Child. I loved to watch her show on PBS when I was a kid. If Meryl Streep plays you in a film about you, it is understood that you did a great job. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.
NAME: Julia Child
OCCUPATION: Chef, Television Personality, Journalist
BIRTH DATE: August 15, 1912
DEATH DATE: August 13, 2004
EDUCATION: Katherine Branson School for Girls, Smith College, Cordon Bleu
PLACE OF BIRTH: Pasadena, California
PLACE OF DEATH: Montecito, California
MAIDEN NAME: Julia Carolyn McWilliams
PEABODY Award for Personal Award for The French Chef 1965
EMMY for Achievements in Educational Television- Individuals for The French Chef 1966
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 1980 for Julia Child and More Company
EMMY for Outstanding Service Show Host for In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs 1996
EMMY for Outstanding Service Show Host for Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home 2001
FRENCH LEGION OF HONOR 1991
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LIVING LEGEND 2000
PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM 23-Jul-2003
BEST KNOWN FOR: TV chef and author Julia Child adapted complex French cooking for everyday Americans, with her groundbreaking cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Popular TV chef and author. Julia Child was born Julia McWilliams, on August 15, 1912, in Pasadena, California. The eldest of three children, Julia was known by several pet names as a little girl, including “Juke”, “Juju” and “Jukies.” Her father John McWilliams, Jr., was a Princeton graduate and early investor in California real estate. His wife, Julia Carolyn Weston, was a paper-company heiress whose father served as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.
The family accumulated significant wealth and, as a result, Child lived a privileged childhood. She was educated at San Francisco’s elite Katherine Branson School for Girls, where—at a towering height of 6 feet, 2 inches—she was the tallest student in her class. She was a lively prankster who, as one friend recalled, could be “really, really wild.” She was also adventurous and athletic, with particular talent in golf, tennis and small-game hunting.
In 1930, she enrolled at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, with the intention of becoming a writer. “There were some famous women novelists in those days,” she said, “and I intended to be one.” Although she enjoyed writing short plays and regularly submitted unsolicited manuscripts to the New Yorker, none of her writing was published. Upon graduation she moved to New York, where she worked in the advertising department of the prestigious home furnishings company W&J Sloane. After transferring to the store’s Los Angeles branch, however, Child was fired for “gross insubordination.”
In 1941, at the onset of World War II, Julia moved to Washington, D.C., where she volunteered as a research assistant for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a newly formed government intelligence agency. In her position, Julia played a key role in the communication of top-secret documents between U.S. government officials and their intelligence officers. She and her colleagues were sent on assignments around the world, holding posts in Washington, D.C., Kumming, China; and Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 1945, while in Sri Lanka, Child began a relationship with fellow OSS employee Paul Child. In September of 1946, following the end of World War II, Julia and Paul returned to America and were married.
In 1948, when Paul was reassigned to the U.S. Information Service at the American Embassy in Paris, the Childs moved to France. While there, Julia developed a penchant for French cuisine and attended the world-famous Cordon Bleu cooking school. Following her six-month training—which included private lessons with master chef Max Bugnard—Julia banded with fellow Cordon Bleu students Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to form the cooking school L’Ecole de Trois Gourmandes (The School of the Three Gourmands).
With a goal of adapting sophisticated French cuisine for mainstream Americans, the trio collaborated on a two-volume cookbook. The women earned a $750 advance for the work, which they received in three payments. The original publisher rejected the manuscript, however, due to its 734-page length. Another publisher eventually accepted the 3-lb. cookbook, releasing it in September 1961 under the title Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The book was considered groundbreaking, and remained the bestselling cookbook for five straight years after its publication. It has since become a standard guide for the culinary community.
Julia promoted her book on the Boston public television station near her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home. Displaying her trademark forthright manner and hearty humor, she prepared an omelet on air. The public’s response was enthusiastic, generating 27 letters and countless phone calls—”a remarkable response,” a station executive remembered, “given that station management occasionally wondered if 27 viewers were tuned in.” She was then invited back to tape her own series on cooking for the network, initially earning $50 a show (it was later raised to $200, plus expenses).
Premiering on WGBH in 1962, The French Chef TV series, like Mastering the Art of French Cooking, succeeded in changing the way Americans related to food, while also establishing Julia as a local celebrity. Shortly thereafter, The French Chef was syndicated to 96 stations throughout America. For her efforts, Julia received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 1964 followed by an Emmy Award in 1966. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Julia made regular appearances on the ABC morning show Good Morning, America.
Child’s other endeavors included the television programs Julia Child and Company (1978), Julia Child and More Company (1980), and Dinner at Julia’s (1983), as well as a slew of bestselling cookbooks that covered every aspect of culinary knowledge. Her most recent cookbooks included In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs (1995), Baking with Julia (1996), Julia’s Delicious Little Dinners (1998), and Julia’s Casual Dinners (1999), which were all accompanied by highly rated television specials.
Not everyone was a fan, however. She was frequently criticized by letter-writing viewers for her failure to wash her hands, as well as what they believed was her poor kitchen demeanor. “You are quite a revolting chef, the way you snap bones and play with raw meats,” one letter read. “I can’t stand those over-sanitary people,” Child said in response. Others were concerned about the high levels of fat in French cooking. Julia’s advice was to eat in moderation. “I would rather eat one tablespoon of chocolate russe cake than three bowls of Jell-O,” she said.
Despite her critics, Julia remained a go-to reference for cooking advice. In 1993, she was rewarded for her work when she became the first woman inducted into the Culinary Institute Hall of Fame. In November 2000, following a 40-year career that has made her name synonymous with fine food, Julia received France’s highest honor: the Legion d’Honneur. And in August 2002, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History unveiled an exhibit featuring the kitchen where she filmed three of her popular cooking shows.
Child died in August 2004 of kidney failure at her assisted-living home in Montecito, two days before her 92nd birthday. Child had no intentions of slowing down, even in her final days. “In this line of work…you keep right on till you’re through,” she said. “Retired people are boring.”After her death Child’s last book, the autobiographyMy Life in France, was published with the help of Child’s great nephew, Alex Prud’homme. The book, which centered on how Child discovered her true calling, became a best seller.
Julia’s memory continues to live on, through her various cookbooks and her syndicated cooking show. In 2009, a film directed by Nora Ephron entitled Julie & Julia hit theaters. The movie, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, chronicled several aspects of Child’s life, as well as her influence on aspiring cook Julie Powell. For her performance, Streep won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and received an Academy Award nomination.
Television series
The French Chef (1963–1966; 1970–1973)
Julia Child & Company (1978–1979)
Julia Child & More Company (1980–1982)
Dinner at Julia’s (1983–1985)
Julia Child’s The Way to Cook” (1985)
The Way To Cook (1989) six one-hour videocassettes
A Birthday Party for Julia Child: Compliments to the Chef (1992)
Cooking with Master Chefs: Hosted by Julia Child (1993–1994) 16 episodes
Cooking In Concert: Julia Child & Jacques Pépin (1993)
In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs (1994–1996), 39 episodes
Cooking in Concert: Julia Child & Jacques Pépin (1995)[60]
Baking with Julia (1996–1998) 39 episodes
Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home (1999–2000) 22 episodes
Julia Child’s Kitchen Wisdom, (2000) two-hour special
DVD releases
Julia Child’s Kitchen Wisdom (2000)
Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home (2003)
Julia Child: America’s Favorite Chef (2004)
The French Chef: Volume One (2005)
The French Chef: Volume Two (2005)
Julia Child! The French Chef (2006)
The Way To Cook (2009)
Baking With Julia (2009)
Books
Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961), with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle
The French Chef Cookbook (1968)—ISBN 0-394-40135-2
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two (1970), with Simone Beck—ISBN 0-394-40152-2
From Julia Child’s Kitchen (1975)—ISBN 0-517-20712-5
Julia Child & Company (1978)—ISBN 0-345-31449-2
Julia Child & More Company (1979)—ISBN 0-345-31450-6
The Way To Cook (1989)—ISBN 0-394-53264-3
Julia Child’s Menu Cookbook (1991), one-volume edition of Julia Child & Company and Julia Child & More Company—ISBN 0-517-06485-5
Cooking With Master Chefs (1993)—ISBN 0-679-74829-6
In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs (1995)—ISBN 0-679-43896-3
Baking with Julia (1996)—ISBN 0-688-14657-0
Julia’s Delicious Little Dinners (1998)—ISBN 0-375-40336-1
Julia’s Menus For Special Occasions (1998)—ISBN 0-375-40338-8
Julia’s Breakfasts, Lunches & Suppers (1999)—ISBN 0-375-40339-6
Julia’s Casual Dinners (1999)—ISBN 0-375-40337-X
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (1999), with Jacques Pépin—ISBN 978-0-375-40431-3
Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom (2000)—ISBN 0-375-41151-8
My Life in France (2006, posthumous), with Alex Prud’homme—ISBN 1-4000-4346-8
(collected in) American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes, ed. Molly O’Neill (Library of America, 2007) ISBN 1-59853-005-4
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