Julia Child
1961: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is published, giving birth to the PBS television series "The French Chef", followed by several other series including her current "Master Chef" programs.
Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California and graduated from Smith College
in 1934. After college, she worked in publicity and advertising in New York,
and during World War II, she served with the Office of Strategic Services in
Washington, D.C., Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and China. After the war, at the
end of 1948, her husband Paul Child was assigned to the U.S. Information
Service at The American Embassy in Paris, and Julia enrolled in the Cordon
Bleu Cooking School. There she met her two French colleagues, Simone Beck
and Louisette Bertholle, and they subsequently opened a cooking school,
"L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes," which resulted in their joint book, Mastering
the Art of French Cooking, published in 1961.
Julia and Paul eventually returned to the States, and after a television
interview at
WGBH-Boston, the station asked Julia to try out a series of TV cooking shows,
and
The French Chef was born on February 11, 1963. After some 200 programs on
classical French cooking, she branched out into contemporary cuisine with the
television series, Julia Child & Company, Julia Child & More Company, and Dinner at Julia's. In 1984, she completed six "The Way to Cook" teaching
videocassettes.
Child has appeared on national television programs including: Good Morning
America, The Johnny Carson Show, The David Letterman Show, Phil Donahue, and T
he Rosie O'Donnell Show. She was host for the PBS Cooking with Master Chefs
series, with a different well-known chef for each of the programs, and also
for the
39-part series, Baking with Julia. Her newest television venture is a
22-part series with Jacques Pépin. It is a technique-based program aimed at
teaching the serious home cook and would-be chef. Julia and Jacques Cooking
at Home started airing in October, 1999 and the companion cookbook has been
on bestseller lists throughout the U.S.
Julia Child's books include: The French Chef Cookbook (1968), Mastering the
Art of French Cooking, Volumes I and II, co-authored with Simone Beck (1970),
and From
Julia Child's Kitchen (1975). Julia Child & Company and Julia Child & More
Company, originally published in the late 1970's, were combined into four
books issued in the fall of 1998. Her large, fully illustrated book, The Way
to Cook, was issued in October 1989, and is now available both in hard cover
and paperback. Baking with Julia, a companion book to the recent Baking
series, was published by William Morrow, and written by Dorie Greenspan. Cooking with Master Chefs was issued in the fall of 1993 to accompany the TV
series, and was followed by In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs. Her latest
book, written with Jacques Pépin, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home was
published in 1999.
Julia Child has been interviewed and written about in many publications,
including:
Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York
Times, People Magazine and TV Guide. She has received honorary degrees from
Boston University, Bates College, Rutgers University, Smith College, and
Harvard University. She was awarded the Ordre de Merite Agricole in 1967 by
the French government, and in 1967 by the French government, and in 1976 the
Ordre de Mérite Nationale. She was elected a member of the Confrérie de
Ceres for her work on French bread, and is a member of the American chapter
of the Commandérie des Cordons Bleus de France. She was awarded two national
Emmy's: in 1995 for her "Master Chefs" series and in 1997 for "Baking with
Julia." In 1999, she received the Peabody Award from Public Television.
Mrs. Child is an active member of the International Association of Culinary
Professionals, and a co-founder of the American Institute of Wine & Food.
