JULIA CHILD Biography - Craftmen, artisans and people from other Occupations

 
 

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JULIA CHILD

Name: Julia Child                                                                     
Born: August 15, 1912 California, United States                                       
Died: August 13, 2004  Santa Barbara, California, United States                       
                                                                                       
Julia Child (August 15, 1912- August 13, 2004) was a famous American 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, showcasing her sui generis television persona, the series         
The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.                                             
                                                                                       
Born Julia Carolyn McWilliams to John and Julia Carolyn ("Caro") McWilliams in       
the wealthy community of Pasadena, California, she grew up eating traditional         
New England food prepared by the family maid. She attended Polytechnic School         
from fourth grade to ninth grade and then The Branson School in Ross, California.     
After graduating in 1934 from Smith College — where at six feet, two inches (1.88   
m) tall she played basketball — with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, she     
moved to New York City and worked as a copywriter for the advertising department     
of upscale home-furnishing firm W. & J. Sloane. After returning to California in     
1937, shortly before her mother died, she spent four years at home, writing for       
local publications and briefly working in advertising again. Civic-minded, she       
volunteered with the American Red Cross and, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor       
in 1941, joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) after being turned down       
by the United States Navy for being too tall.