Julia Child is a renowned chef and cookbook author. Thanks to this enterprising and talented woman, thousands of American women have learned to cook deliciously, creatively and economically. Julia's cuisine is popular today, and her fame has spread far beyond the United States.
Childhood and youth
The biography of Julia Child (née McWilliams) began in 1912. The girl was born in Pasadena, California. The family was quite prosperous and even wealthy. Julia's father was successfully engaged in real estate investments, her mother was the heiress of a large fortune. The family had three children, Julia was the eldest.
The children received an excellent education, Julia graduated from a prestigious girls' school in San Francisco. She was remembered as a fairly diligent student with a cheerful and lively character. In her free time, the girl went in for sports, played tennis and golf, loved to hunt.
First job and career growth
The girl always dreamed of becoming a writer and after school she entered Smith College. Julia wrote short plays and sent them to publishers, but none were accepted. Miss McWilliams was not upset, she just decided to change her specialty for a while and went into advertising.
In 1941, Julia's life took another sharp turn: with the outbreak of the war, she volunteered for the intelligence unit. She had to transfer secret information from various countries: on the instructions of the government, the girl traveled to Sri Lanka, Colombo, China. In 1945, an acquaintance with a colleague, Paul Child, took place, which ended in a wedding a year later.
Cooking as a way of life
In 1948, Paul Child got a job in Paris, his wife moved with him. One of the shocks of the new life was French cuisine. Julia decided to learn all the details and entered the famous culinary school Cordon Bleu, and then took additional courses with renowned chef Max Bernard. After graduating, an enterprising American woman, together with two fellow students, opened her own culinary school.
The next ambitious project was the compilation of a book of French cuisine recipes adapted for American women. The work was colossal, and the result became a real bestseller. The author's cookbook was published in 1961 and was instantly sold out.
While promoting her creation, Julia appeared on television a lot. Her wit and entrepreneurial spirit was quickly appreciated by the producers and invited Madame Child to host her own culinary television show, The French Chef. The show was very popular, and Julia's fees increased significantly. Soon, Child received the prestigious Foster Peabody Award, and a couple of years later - an Emmy statuette.
The chef and TV presenter was surprisingly efficient. She worked with letters from readers, wrote and published new books, and often appeared on television. She managed to combine work with her personal life and did not stop her educational activities even in old age. 40 years after the beginning of her career, Julia's merits in popularizing French cuisine were awarded the country's highest award - the Order of the Legion of Honor.
Julia Child worked until the very end. The popular TV presenter and cook passed away from liver failure in 2004, several months before her ninety-two years old. Her books are still being published, Julia's biography has become the basis for several novels and films.
