Julia Child: biography, films and awards

Julia Child's cuisine is still popular with many housewives around the world. This woman with her culinary art influenced not only American society, but also other countries.

early years

The popular TV chef and author, Julia Child, nee Julia McWilliams, was born August 15, 1912 in Pasadena, in the North American state of California. She was the eldest of three children. Julia was known by several nicknames, such as Juke, Juju and Jukies. Her father, John McWilliams, Jr., was a graduate of Princeton and worked as a real estate investor in California. His wife, Julia Carolyn Weston, became the heiress of the paper business. Her father served as vice-governor of the state of Massachusetts.

The family of Julia had accumulated a considerable stock of wealth, and as a result, the child lived in prosperity and, one might say, had a privileged childhood. Julia Child, a book about cooking in the editorship of which is still enjoying interest, was educated at the elite school for girls Kathryn Branson in San Francisco. Her height at that time was 6 feet 2 inches, so she was the tallest student in her class. She was a joker who, according to her acquaintances, could make really wild jokes. Julia was also enterprising and athletic, with a special talent playing golf, tennis, she loved hunting.

Work at first

In 1930, she entered the Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, with the intention of becoming a writer. "At that time, there were well-known female novelists," she said, "and I was going to become one of them." Despite the fact that she liked to write short plays, which Julia regularly sent for publication in the New Yorker, none of her works were published. After graduation she moved to New York, where she worked in the advertising department of prestigious home furnishings of W & J Sloane. After the transfer of the trademark to the Los Angeles firm, Julia was fired.

The Second World War

In 1941, at the beginning of World War II, Julia moved to Washington, DC, where she joined the armed forces as a volunteer as a research fellow for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the new government-formed intelligence unit. In her role, Julia played a key role, passing on secret information between government officials in the US and intelligence officers. Later, Julia and her colleagues were sent to work at various strategic points around the world. The girl visited China, Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 1945, while she was in Sri Lanka, Julia met and began to meet with an employee of USS Paul Child. In September 1946, after the end of World War II, Julia and Paul returned to America and got married.

cooking school

In 1948, when Paul was transferred to the US Information Service at the American Embassy in Paris, the Child family moved to France. At that time, Julia also developed a penchant for French cuisine. She entered the Cordon Bleu culinary school , known throughout the world. After that, there were six months of training, which included private exercises with chef Max Benard. After that, Julia, along with fellow students Cordon Bleu Simon Beck and Louise Berthol formed her culinary school L'Ecole de Trois Gourmandes.

"Mastering the art of French cuisine"

In order to adapt the complex French cuisine to ordinary Americans, the trio of female cooks worked on creating a two-volume book of recipes. Women received an advance of $ 750 for this work. However, the publisher-customer rejected the manuscript because of the very long length of 734 pages. Another publisher eventually took a huge cookbook, releasing it in September 1961 under the title "Mastering the art of French cuisine." Work is considered an innovative creation, and this book remained a bestseller for five years after its publication. Since then, this book has become a standard guide for the culinary community.

Julia contributed to the promotion of her book, advertising her on Boston's public television channels that were not far from her house. The image of her trademark was straightforward and with a sense of humor - on it she cooked scrambled eggs in the air. The reaction of the audience was enthusiastic, Julia began to receive letters from readers in huge quantities, not to mention endless phone calls. Then she was invited to a television channel to run her own cooking program. Initially, Julia earned $ 50 for the show, later the fee was raised to $ 200 plus costs.

Television success

In 1962, the television program "French Cook TV" was broadcast on the WGBH television channel, which described how the work "Mastering the art of French cuisine" managed to change the attitude of Americans to food, and also how Julia became a local celebrity. Shortly thereafter, the "French Chef" was shown at 96 stations across America.

In 1964, Julia received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, then in 1966 - the Emmy Award. During the 1970s and 1980s, Julia made regular appearances on the ABC channel in the morning show "Good Morning America".

At the same time, she worked extensively in other programs, such as "Julia Child and Company" (1978), "D. Child and another big company" (1980), "Dinner with Julia" (1983). There was also a show where Julia was reviewing her cookbooks, which became best sellers and covered all aspects of culinary arts. Her most recent cookbooks were "Master Class with Julia Child" (1995), "Baking with Julia" (1996), "Delicious Julia Dinners" (1998) and "Casual Dinners of Julia" (1999), all accompanied by High rating.

Opponents

However, not all were fans of Julia. She was often criticized in the letters of TV viewers for not washing their hands, and also because, in their opinion, her behavior in the kitchen is unacceptable. "You are a completely disgusting cook, you do not even know how to remove meat from bones," some wrote. "Yes, I do not belong to people who are hypersensitive to sanitation," Childe answered. Others were concerned about the high level of fat that French cooking has. Julia Child in response to this suggested that such people eat in moderation. "I would prefer to eat one tablespoon of Russe chocolate cake than three bowls of jelly," she said.

Death and heritage

Despite the critics, Julia continued to publish tips on cooking. In 1993, she was awarded for her work, then she became the first woman to enter the Hall of Fame culinary institute. In November 2000, after 40 years of career, which made her name associate with a fine meal and the most famous chefs in the world, Julia received the highest award of France - the Order of the Legion of Honor. And in August 2002 the National Museum of American History Smithson presented an exhibition where three popular culinary shows by Julia were shown.

Julia Child, photo of which is familiar to every professional culinary specialist, died in August 2004 from kidney disease at her home in Montesito two days before her 92nd birthday. Julia did not stop her activities even in the last days. "Pensioners are bored, so you have to work to the very end," she said. After her death, the book with the autobiography My Life in France was published with the help of Child's nephew Alex. The book, which talked about how Julia discovered what is her true vocation, became a bestseller.

The memory of Julia continues to live and now with the help of her various culinary books and her culinary show. In 2009, the film directed by Nora Efron "Julia and Julia" became a hit of cinemas, it told about the life that was spent by Julia Child. The film became interesting and the fact that the roles starred Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. For her game, Strip earned the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and became the nominee for the Oscar.

August 15, 2012 would be the 100th anniversary of Julia. In connection with the celebration of the centennial of this woman, restaurants throughout the United States took part in the "Week of restaurants with Julia", offering recipes Julia Child in his menu.