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.

Retirement

Her husband Paul, who was ten years older, died in 1994 after living in a nursing home for five years following a series of strokes in 1989.

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In 2001, she moved to a retirement community in Santa Barbara, California, donating her house and office to Smith College. She gave her kitchen, which was designed by her husband with high counters to accommodate her diminished but still formidable height, and which served as the set for three of her television series, to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where it is now on display in Washington, D.C.

Related Topics:
Retirement - Santa Barbara, California - Smith College - Smithsonian National Museum of American History

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She received the French Legion of Honor in 1991 and the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.

Related Topics:
French Legion of Honor - Presidential Medal of Freedom

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On August 13, 2004, Julia Child died peacefully in her sleep of kidney failure at her home in Santa Barbara, at the age of 91.

Related Topics:
August 13 - 2004 - Kidney failure

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