CHILD, JULIA 1912-

COOK

A Cultural Icon

Julia Child taught millions of Americans to enjoy French cuisine with her popular cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961), and a second volume published in 1970. Her Public Broadcasting System (PBS) program, The French Chef, began in 1963 on Boston's WGBH station and was quickly syndicated and endlessly rebroadcast. By the mid 1970s Julia Child was a popular-culture icon, an imposing (over six feet tall) WASP Francophile matron bustling expertly around a studio kitchen. Her next book, From Julia Child's Kitchen (1975), reflected her celebrity status and witty persona. She won an Emmy in 1966 and many honors from culinary organizations at home and abroad.

Secret Agent Cook

Julia Child was, however, a cook with a difference. Born in Pasadena and educated at Smith College, she was an Office of Strategic Services (OSS) agent, with assignments that took her all over the world. In Paris she was one of the first American women to attend the Cordon Bleu culinary school. Not content with a domestic life when she settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the 1950s, Child brought her gastronomic skills from the home to television. At a time when increasing numbers of educated, affluent feminists rejected the traditional domestic role, Julia Child made fine cooking chic. With peerless showmanship and affable sophistication, she proved the modern woman (and man) could be professional at work and at home.

Sources:

Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle, and Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (New York: Knopf, 1961);

Julia Child, From Julia Child's Kitchen (New York: Knopf, 1975).