Julia McWilliams Child, the woman who brought French cooking to America, fell in love with France as generations have fallen in love with her, born on August 15, 1912, in Pasadena into a wealthy family that had very very tall children. Julia would attend Smith College and due to her 6” 2 ‘ frame, she was perfect for the basketball team but would also play golf, tennis, and even act. Graduating with a degree in history in 1934, she wanted to become a writer and moved to New York to chase her dreams, but her vision of being the next big novelist wasn’t in the cards. Instead, she settled for working in the advertising department for the W & J Sloane furniture firm.
As World War II broke out, she wanted to join the Women’s Army Corp, but due to her height, she was turned away. Joining the Office of Strategic Services, the OSS that would later become the CIA, she worked directly with the head of the OSS. She would also assist in creating a shark repellent; yes, you read that right. The sharks were getting too curious about the underwater explosives and would set them off, so a repellent was needed to keep them away.
The job with the OSS would take her to Sri Lanka, where she would meet Paul Child in the summer of 1944. Paul was ten years older than her and a man of the world. He had lived briefly in Paris, where he painted and enjoyed the amazing food and wine, and Julia found him fascinating. Julia herself was a delight and even was awarded for her “inherent cheerfulness” in the OSS.
The couple married on September 1, 1946, in Lumberville, Pennsylvania. The day before, they were in a minor traffic accident, and true to Julia and Paul's fashion, it didn’t stop them, even in bandages. For their first meal as man and wife, Julia, who had never really cooked before, decided to take a leap by cooking calf brains in red wine. Paul was such a love, but they both found it horrible. Luckily, her skills would vastly improve.
In October of 1948, Paul was offered a job with the OSS in Paris, setting up the visual presentation department and building Franco-American relations. Paul was an avid photographer and an artist, so it was his perfect job. At 4:45 am on November 3, 1948, they arrived in Le Havre to begin one of the most exciting chapters of their lives. Complete with “the Blue Flash,” their Buick station wagon packed with everything they needed, they headed towards Paris. Stopping in Rouen for lunch at the Restaurant La Couronne, one of the oldest restaurants in France, dating back to 1345. At that meal, she enjoyed her first French baguette, cheese, and sole meunière, which would change her life.
Early in the evening, they arrived in Paris and went to their apartment at 81 rue de l’Universite or Roo de Loo, as she called it. The two-floor apartment with wonderful large windows was the perfect place to start their French adventure. Filling the days was the hardest part for Julia. Playing bridge and making hats was a bore to her, and she wanted something more fulfilling. As a post-war wife who didn’t know how to cook, she enrolled in the Cordon Bleu, much to the chagrin of Madame Elisabeth Brassart. Madame Brassart enrolled her in the general class for housewives, which was not challenging for Julia, and spoke with her again. With her powers of persuasion, she convinced Mme Brassart to let her join the chef’s class taught by Max Bungard. Filled with only men, she would win them all over and begin a close friendship with Max Bugnard.
During her years at the Cordon Bleu, she joined Le Cercle des Gourmettes and met Simca Beck and Louisette Bertholle, two French women writing a French cookbook for Americans. The trio hit it off and started their small cooking school, L'école des Trois Gourmandes. Offering classes out of Julia’s kitchen for 20 francs, they immediately drew women to their classes and became a hit with the ex-pat Americans in Paris. Simca and Louisette constantly filled Julia in on their trouble with their American consultant and asked Julia to help them..
The project would take up all of her time, as she researched every detail and tested each recipe repeatedly. As the only English speaker, she took over all the writing. It would take almost ten years to complete the book, filled with ups and downs with publishers, moving to Marseilles, Germany, and Oslo, and finally, on October 16, 1961, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was released.
Having returned to the US, Paul retired from the OSS and spent his days helping Julia, focusing on his art, and taking photos. Traveling around the country promoting the book, she met James Beard and Jacques Pépin, and of course, her cheerful demeanor created lifelong friendships.
In February 1962, she was invited to appear on the WGBH show I’ve Been Reading in Boston. Given a thirty-minute spot, she had no idea how to fill the time, so she brought a copper bowl, whisk, eggs, and mushrooms. During the show, she whipped up an omelet, and the station was flooded with letters and calls asking for more. WGBH asked Julia to return for three half-hour episodes, which was the basis of The French Chef. Premiering on July 26, 1962, it ran for ten years and 191 episodes. Today, you can stream every one of them online on the PBS app. Julia appeared on 11 different TV shows and was on TV every week from 1963 to 2000.
The Child’s hearts were always in France, and 1963, after an extended visit to Simca’s home in Plascassier, a small Provincial town near Grasse in the south of France, they were given the greatest gift. Simca and her husband offered them part of their land for their home. La Pitchoune was built and was the perfect place for the Children to escape, too, but also for Julia and Simca to work on volume two.
On October 22, 1970, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume two, was released after many years of work by Simca and Julia and a diligent timeline by Judith Jones. On the road, filming TV shows and writing more books kept Julia busy, and Paul was happy to follow along.
In October of 1974, after having some health issues, Paul was diagnosed with having had a small heart attack. The years were followed by chest pains, and his brain that was getting foggier as time went on. Their love for each other was more important than any book or TV show. Paul was the ultimate support to her at a time when it was the role of a woman to stay home and raise children.
In 1989, Paul had a series of strokes that forced his move to a nursing home. Heartbroken at the idea of being apart, no matter where she was in the world, she would call him on the phone every day at 2 pm. Paul would die on May 12, 1994, and the love of her life would be gone.
After his death, she packed up their Cambridge home and moved to Montecito, California, where she would stay the rest of her life. In her final years, she sat down with her nephew Alex Prud’homme and her stack of many letters between Paul and his brother and wrote her final book about their years in France. My Life in France, released after her death, is a lovely stroll through their love of each other and of France.
On August 13, 2004, just two days before her birthday, she died of kidney failure. The night before her final meal would be a bowl of her beloved soup a l’oignon. I remember waking up that day to the news that she died and gasped and cried, and that was long before I fell in love with her.
In 2001, Julia donated her entire Cambridge kitchen to the Smithsonian Institute, including the pegboard that organized her pots and pans and the raised counters Paul designed just for her.
In 2009, Meryl Streep portrayed her in Julie & Julia based on her book My Life in France. The movie does a fantastic job depicting their life and love in Paris, and Meryl Streep brings her back to life. I could watch that movie, especially the Julia parts, hundreds of times.
Julia was in her late 30s when she discovered the meaning of her life and would follow it until she took her last breath. So many of the women we talk about in the podcast lived in the shadows of their husbands and even watched them take credit for what they did. Paul Child couldn’t have loved her more and supported her to become the Julia Child who dreamed of sharing her love of France with future generations. Thank you, Paul and Julia.
