Julia Child was an American chef, novelist, and television personality who died in 2004 with a net worth of $50 million (adjusted for inflation). Her first cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” was released in 1961 and is credited with popularizing French food in America. She went on to create 16 other cookbooks as well as the memoir “My Life in France,” which was published posthumously in 2006.
Julia appeared on a variety of television shows, including the Emmy-winning “The French Chef” (1963-1973), “In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs” (1995-1996), and “Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home” (1999-2000). Child was played by Meryl Streep in Nora Ephron’s 2009 film “Julie & Julia.”
Who was Julia Child?
Julia Child was born on August 15, 1912, in Pasadena, California. Her mother, Julia Weston, was the daughter of Byron Curtis Weston, the founder of the Weston Paper Company and a former Massachusetts lieutenant governor, and her father, John McWilliams, Jr., was a land manager who graduated from Princeton University. Julia had two younger siblings: a brother, John, and a sister, Dorothy.
Child went to Polytechnic School and Katherine Branson School (a boarding school in Ross, California), and she used to play basketball, tennis, and golf. Julia attended Smith College in Massachusetts after graduating from high school and majored in history, getting her bachelor’s degree in 1934.
Child didn’t begin cooking until she was in her thirties when she met her future husband, Paul, who was “known for his sophisticated palate.”
How old was Julia Child?
She was 91 years when she died.
What was Julia Child’s net worth?
The American chef was estimated to be worth $50 Million.
What was Julia Child’s career?
Julia traveled to New York City after college to work as a copywriter in the advertising department of W. & J. Sloane. She worked as a typist for the Office of Strategic Services in 1942 since she was too tall to join the United States Navy’s WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) or the Women’s Army Corps. Child was eventually promoted to top-secret researcher under OSS head General William J. Donovan, and she also worked for the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section as a file clerk and assistance to shark repellent developers.
Julia was awarded the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service while serving as the chief of the OSS Secretariat’s Registry. When sharks set off too many underwater OSS explosives, Child rectified the problem by experimenting with various concoctions scattered near the explosives. According to reports, this shark repellant is still in use today.
Julia studied with renowned chefs such as Max Bugnard after entering the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, and she joined Le Cercle des Gourmettes, a women’s cooking society. There, she met Simone Beck, who asked Child to help her with a French cookbook for Americans she was co-writing with her friend Louisette Bertholle.
In 1951, the trio began teaching cooking workshops to American women, and a decade later, they released “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” which was followed by “Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two” in 1970.
Following the popularity of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” Julia began writing magazine pieces and a column for “The Boston Globe.” “The French Chef Cookbook” (1968), “Julia Child & Company” (1978), “Baking with Julia” (1996), “Julia’s Menus For Special Occasions” (1998), “Julia’s Breakfasts, Lunches & Suppers” (1999), and “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home” (1999) were among her many cookbooks.
Child first appeared on a book review show on a Boston TV station in 1962, and she later obtained her own TV show when fans appreciated her cooking demonstration. “The French Chef” started on WGBH in Boston in February 1963 and ran for 201 episodes over ten seasons. Julia later appeared on “Julia Child & More Company” (1979-1980), “Dinner at Julia’s” (1983-1984), “Cooking with Master Chefs: Hosted by Julia Child” (1993-1994), “In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs” (1995-1996), “Baking with Julia” (1996-1998), and “Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home” (1999-2000). Child co-founded the American Institute of Wine & Food in 1981 with vintners Richard Graff and Robert Mondav to “advance the understanding, appreciation, and quality of wine and food.”
