23 Facts About James Beard

James Andrews Beard was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality.

James Beard pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, Oregon, and lectured widely.

James Beard emphasized American cooking, prepared with fresh, wholesome, American ingredients, to a country just becoming aware of its own culinary heritage.

James Beard published more than twenty books, and his memory is honored by his foundation's annual James Beard Awards.

James Andrews Beard was born in Portland, Oregon, on May 5,1903, to Elizabeth and John Beard.

James Beard's British-born mother operated the Gladstone Hotel, and his father worked at the city's customs house.

The family vacationed on the Pacific coast in Gearhart, Oregon, where James Beard was exposed to Pacific Northwest cuisine.

At age three James Beard was bedridden with malaria, and the illness gave him time to focus on the food prepared by his mother and Jue-Let, the family's Chinese cook.

James Beard reportedly "[attributed] much of his upbringing to Jue-Let," whom he referred to as his Chinese godfather.

James Beard spent time in Paris, where he experienced French cuisine at its bistros and central market, Les Halles.

James Beard enlisted in the Army and was trained as a cryptographic specialist.

In 1952, when Helen Evans Brown published her Helen Brown's West Coast Cook Book, James Beard wrote her a letter igniting a friendship that lasted until Brown's death.

James Beard continued to teach cooking to men and women for the next thirty years, both at his own schools, and around the country at women's clubs, other cooking schools, and civic groups.

James Beard was a tireless traveler, bringing his message of good food, honestly prepared with fresh, wholesome, American ingredients, to a country just becoming aware of its own culinary heritage.

David Kamp noted that James Beard's was the first cooking show on TV.

James Beard compares Dione Lucas' cooking show and school with Beard's, noting that their prominence during the 1950s marked the emergence of a sophisticated, New York-based, nationally and internationally known food culture.

James Beard made endorsement deals to promote products that he might not have otherwise used or suggested in his own cuisine, including Omaha Steaks, French's Mustard, Green Giant Corn Niblets, Old Crow bourbon, Planters Peanuts, Shasta soft drinks, DuPont chemicals, and Adolph's Meat Tenderizer.

James Beard was a big man, over six feet tall, with a big belly, and huge hands.

James Beard died of heart failure on January 21,1985, at his home in New York City at age 81.

James Beard was cremated and his ashes scattered over the beach in Gearhart, Oregon, where he spent summers as a child.

James Beard's renovated brownstone at 167 West 12th Street in Greenwich Village, is North America's only historic culinary center.

In 1986, the James Beard Foundation was established in Beard's honor to provide scholarships to aspiring food professionals and champion the American culinary tradition which Beard helped create.

The James Beard Papers are housed in the Fales Library at New York University.