Julia Child - Jovial Giant in Women"s Chef Pants
Julia Child was one of the pioneering progenitors of America's culinary awakening.
She was born in Pasadena, CA on August 15, 1912 as Julia Carolyn McWilliams, the oldest of three children of a well-to-do family.
The usual household fare when she was growing up was traditional New England cuisine prepared by the family's cook.
Julia attended boarding school where her tall stature and musculature made her excel at such sports as golf, tennis, and basketball.
At Smith College she continued playing sports until her graduation with a B.
A.
degree in English in 1934.
She moved to New York City where she found work as a copywriter for an upscale home furnishings business.
After her return to California three years later she continued copywriting and writing for local publications.
When the Second World War broke out, she joined the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA.
Julia worked in women's work shirts for the Secret Intelligence division of the OSS, and in 1944 she was sent to Ceylon to help oversee OSS Asian clandestine operations.
Later, after posting to China, she was awarded the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service for heading up the OSS Secretariat Registry.
On returning home in 1946, she married Paul Child - an artist, poet, and gourmet.
The couple moved to Washington D.
C.
where Paul joined the foreign service.
In 1948 they were posted to Paris where Julia experienced a culinary epiphany during her first supper in Rouen.
She later described this meal, consisting of oysters followed by sole meuniere, and accompanied by fine wine, as opening up her soul and spirit.
She put on women's chef pants and began attending Paris' acclaimed cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, and also studied privately with master chefs such as Max Bugnard.
She joined the Cercle des Gourmettes cooking club, and there she met Simone Beck.
Together with her friend Louisette Bertholle, Beck was writing a French cookbook to teach Americans about French cuisine, and she invited Julia to join the project.
The three collaborators opened their own cooking school - L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes - in Julia's kitchen.
Work on the cookbook - testing and retesting recipes - took a decade.
When the 734 page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 it was an immediate success.
The book's helpful illustrations, its careful attention to detail, and its knack for making haute cuisine universally accessible, made it a huge bestseller, and it received universal critical and professional acclaim.
The success of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which has never gone out of print in the past half-century, led to a 1962 invitation to appear on a National Educational Television book review program.
When viewers enjoyed her live demonstration of how to prepare an omelet French-style, Julia was invited to do a regular cooking program on Boston's NET station, WGBH.
The French Chef made its debut on February 11, 1963 and it was a smash hit.
The program ran for ten years on national television and won both Emmy and Peabody Awards, including the first Emmy ever awarded for an educational show.
She became the most widely-viewed television personality in a cook shirt of all time because of her unaffected manner, her distinctive, charming warble of a voice, and her cheerful enthusiasm.
In 1972, The French Chef became the very first television program open-captioned for the deaf.
Julia's second book - The French Chef Cookbook - was a collection of recipes which she had demonstrated on the television program.
Her third book - the second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking - was also written with Simone Beck as collaborator.
Julia's fourth book - From Julia Child's Kitchen - featured photographs of scenes from episodes of her television show, and illustrative photographs taken by her husband Paul.
She was born in Pasadena, CA on August 15, 1912 as Julia Carolyn McWilliams, the oldest of three children of a well-to-do family.
The usual household fare when she was growing up was traditional New England cuisine prepared by the family's cook.
Julia attended boarding school where her tall stature and musculature made her excel at such sports as golf, tennis, and basketball.
At Smith College she continued playing sports until her graduation with a B.
A.
degree in English in 1934.
She moved to New York City where she found work as a copywriter for an upscale home furnishings business.
After her return to California three years later she continued copywriting and writing for local publications.
When the Second World War broke out, she joined the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA.
Julia worked in women's work shirts for the Secret Intelligence division of the OSS, and in 1944 she was sent to Ceylon to help oversee OSS Asian clandestine operations.
Later, after posting to China, she was awarded the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service for heading up the OSS Secretariat Registry.
On returning home in 1946, she married Paul Child - an artist, poet, and gourmet.
The couple moved to Washington D.
C.
where Paul joined the foreign service.
In 1948 they were posted to Paris where Julia experienced a culinary epiphany during her first supper in Rouen.
She later described this meal, consisting of oysters followed by sole meuniere, and accompanied by fine wine, as opening up her soul and spirit.
She put on women's chef pants and began attending Paris' acclaimed cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, and also studied privately with master chefs such as Max Bugnard.
She joined the Cercle des Gourmettes cooking club, and there she met Simone Beck.
Together with her friend Louisette Bertholle, Beck was writing a French cookbook to teach Americans about French cuisine, and she invited Julia to join the project.
The three collaborators opened their own cooking school - L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes - in Julia's kitchen.
Work on the cookbook - testing and retesting recipes - took a decade.
When the 734 page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 it was an immediate success.
The book's helpful illustrations, its careful attention to detail, and its knack for making haute cuisine universally accessible, made it a huge bestseller, and it received universal critical and professional acclaim.
The success of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which has never gone out of print in the past half-century, led to a 1962 invitation to appear on a National Educational Television book review program.
When viewers enjoyed her live demonstration of how to prepare an omelet French-style, Julia was invited to do a regular cooking program on Boston's NET station, WGBH.
The French Chef made its debut on February 11, 1963 and it was a smash hit.
The program ran for ten years on national television and won both Emmy and Peabody Awards, including the first Emmy ever awarded for an educational show.
She became the most widely-viewed television personality in a cook shirt of all time because of her unaffected manner, her distinctive, charming warble of a voice, and her cheerful enthusiasm.
In 1972, The French Chef became the very first television program open-captioned for the deaf.
Julia's second book - The French Chef Cookbook - was a collection of recipes which she had demonstrated on the television program.
Her third book - the second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking - was also written with Simone Beck as collaborator.
Julia's fourth book - From Julia Child's Kitchen - featured photographs of scenes from episodes of her television show, and illustrative photographs taken by her husband Paul.
