Julia Child

Julia Child (August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004), born Julia Carolyn McWilliams, was a famous American gourmet cook, author, and television personality who introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques to the American mainstream through her many cookbooks and television programs. Her most famous works are the 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and the television series The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.

Fame, books, and television series

They initially signed a contract with publisher Houghton Mifflin, which later rejected the manuscript for being too much like an encyclopedia. Finally, when it was first published in 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf, the 734-page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a best-seller and received critical acclaim that fit well with American fascination with French culture in the early 1960s. Lauded for its helpful illustrations, precise attention to detail, and for making fine cuisine accessible to the masses, the book is still in print and is considered a seminal culinary work. Upon this success, Mrs. Child wrote magazine articles and a regular column for The Boston Globe newspaper.

Related Topics:
Houghton Mifflin - Alfred A. Knopf - The Boston Globe

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A 1962 appearance on a book review show on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) station of Boston, WGBH, led to the inception of her television cooking show after viewers enjoyed her demonstration of how to cook an omelette. The French Chef debuted February 11, 1963 on WGBH and was immediately successful. The show ran nationally for ten years and won Peabody Award and Emmy Award Awards. Though she was not the first television cook, Mrs. Child was the most widely seen and, with her cheery attitude and distinctively charming warbly voice, attracted the broadest audience.

Related Topics:
Book review - Public Broadcasting Service - WGBH - Omelette - The French Chef - February 11 - 1963 - Peabody Award - Emmy Award

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mrs. Child's second book, The French Chef Cookbook, was a collection of the recipes she had demonstrated on the show. It was soon followed in 1971 by Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two, again in collaboration with Simone Beck, but not with Louisette Bertholle, with whom they had ended their partnership. Julia's fourth book, From Julia Child's Kitchen, was illustrated with her husband's photographs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the 1970s and 1980s, she was the star of numerous television programs, including Julia Child & Company and Dinner at Julia's. She starred in four more series in the 1990s that featured guest chefs: Cooking with Master Chefs, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, Baking with Julia, and Julia Child & Jacques Pepin Cooking at Home. She has collaborated with Jacques Pepin many times for television programs and cookbooks. All of Mrs. Child's books in this time grew out of the television series of the same names.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mrs. Child was a favorite of audiences from the moment of her television debut on public television in 1963 and her personage was a familiar part of American culture. In 1966, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine with the heading, "Our Lady of the Ladle". In a 1978 Saturday Night Live sketch, she was affectionately parodied by Dan Aykroyd, continuing with a cooking show despite profuse bleeding from a cut to the thumb. Jean Stapleton portrayed her in a 1989 musical, Bon Appétit!, based on one of her televised cooking lessons. She also inspired a character on the Children's Television Workshop program, The Electric Company (1971-1977).

Related Topics:
Time - Saturday Night Live - Dan Aykroyd - Jean Stapleton - Children's Television Workshop - The Electric Company

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1981, she founded the educational American Institute of Wine and Food in California with vintner Robert Mondavi and others to "advance the understanding, appreciation and quality of wine and food", a pursuit she had already begun with her books and television appearances.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~