Julia Child

Julia Child became synonymous with good cooking through years of television cooking shows, beginning in 1963. Her cookbooks have consistently hit bestseller lists.

Born in California, Child graduated from Smith College in 1934 with a history degree and aspirations to be a novelist or magazine writer. She moved to New York and eventually served in the Office of Strategic Services (the predecessor to the CIA) during World War II in Washington D.C., Sri Lanka, and China. After the war, her husband was assigned to the embassy in Paris, France and she enrolled in the Cordon Bleu Cooking School. With two of her colleagues, she opened a cooking school and published their first cookbook.

After returning to the states, a Boston station asked Child to host a series of cooking shows. From there her television career was launched. Eventually, she teamed up with Jacques Pepin for a 22-part series for serious home cooks and would-be chefs. Her work won her an Emmy in 1966 and a Peabody Award in 1965.

Child is a co-founder of the American Institute of Wine & Food and of the James Beard Foundation.

Child died in her sleep on Aug. 12, 2004, three days before her 92nd birthday.

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