Last week, I talked about my favorite inspiration, Julia Child. This week, I want to talk about one of her role models: Chef James Beard.

Beard grew up eating fresh berries and fish, as well as other fresh meats and produce, due to his family’s financial status. He took an interest in the hobbies of his mother: food and acting. After high school, James went on to Portland, Oregon, to study voice and theater but was silently expelled due to his homosexual tendencies, although the school claimed to dismiss him based on academic failures.

After his short-lived college experience, Beard tried directly entering the acting workforce. He got some gigs, and made a small name for himself, but never made it big-time. If you’re asking why I’m talking about an actor on a food blog, just hold on. I’m getting to the good part. Beard had to open up a catering company in 1935 as his bread-and-butter fallback job. Unlike his acting success, this business started to catch on quickly. James Beard realized his true calling was with food.

He deviates from the traditional chef path here: in 1940, he paved the way for specific cookbooks, his first being entirely based on food fit for cocktail parties and entertainment. Two years later, he followed up his first cookbook with another – this one based on outdoor cooking. Eventually, Chef Beard went on to write many more cookbooks, ending up with about 20 cookbooks by the time of his death.

Cooking on television was unheard of before James Beard dusted off his acting skills and applied them to his passion for gourmet food. He starred in a segment of I Love to Eat on the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in 1946, one of the earliest food television shows.

A decade later after his debut on I Love to Eat, the chef started his school, the James Beard Cooking school, based in New York (where he filmed for NBC) and Oregon (where he is from). Eventually, James Beard’s name became synonymous with American cuisine, especially American gourmet food. The New York Times called Beard the ‘Dean of American Cookery.’; which is appropriate, given his contributions to moving the culinary world forward.

Finally, many people in the culinary world might recognize James Beard from the self-named foundation. According to the James Beard Foundation, the mission is to “celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone.” The 2017 winners include Sarah Grueneberg from Food Network’s Iron Chef Gauntlet, and Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW’s Good Food.