Julia Child

Tall (6'2"), imposing, American culinary personality extraordinaire who has brought a regal, quasi-British authority and calorie-crammed delights to the American public for over three decades. After training as a French chef in Paris (and opening a cooking school soon afterwards) while her husband worked for the American Embassy, Child returned to the US in 1961. She made a guest appearance on a local Boston TV show, and was soon thereafter offered her own cooking instruction program. "The French Chef" became one of the longest running series in the history of public broadcasting and, along with her companion series, "Julia Child & Company," "Dinner with Julia" and "Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home" (with French chef Jacques Pepin), proved just how fascinating it can be to watch someone cook.

Good-humored as well as no-nonsense on the air, Child broadened her culinary expertise rapidly through the years, soon leaving eager viewers in suspense as to whether she would perform a perfect pea soup, mess around with moussaka or titillate with a toasted apricot meringue. Beginning in 1980 she hosted a regular segment on ABC's "Good Morning America" and her domination of the world of un-fast food was insured with a series of best-selling cookbooks and videotapes. Dan Aykroyd's memorable spoof of Child's unflappable gentility (even when bleeding to death) was a high point in the hilarious "Saturday Night Live" skits of the 70s and 80s.