Bon Appétit is an American food and entertaining magazine published monthly. Named after the French phrase wishing diners "good appetite" — i.e., an enjoyable meal — it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956. Jones was owner, editor and publisher until 1970, when Bon Appétit was merged into the Pillsbury Company, who sold it to Knapp Communications, publishers of Architectural Digest four years later. Condé Nast Publications, the current owners, purchased Knapp Communications in 1993. Its sister publication was Gourmet, before it was discontinued in October 2009. The magazine's headquarters, which had been in Los Angeles, CA, were moved to New York City in early 2011.^[2]

The current editor is Adam Rapoport, previously Style Editor at Condé Nast's GQ magazine. Prior to joining GQ, Mr. Rapoport edited the restaurant section at Time Out New York and worked as an editor and writer for the James Beard Foundation's publications office.^[3]

Editors[link]

• James A. Shanahan (1956–1961)
• Alan Shearer (1961–1962)
• Charles Walters (1962–1963)
• Betty Paige (1963–1964)
• W. C. Carreras (1964)
• Floyd Sageser (1964–1965)
• M. Frank Jones (1965–1976)
• Paige Rense (1976–1983)
• Marilou Vaughan (1983–1985)
• William J. Garry (1985–2000)
• Barbara Fairchild (2000–2010)
• Adam Rapoport (2010-present)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bon Appétit online
• Bon Appétit events & promotions online

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Julia Child

1988 portrait of Julia Child by Elsa Dorfman
Born	(1912-08-15)August 15, 1912 Pasadena, California
Died	August 13, 2004(2004-08-13) (aged 91) Montecito, California
Cooking style	French
Education	Smith College B.A. English 1934 Le Cordon Bleu Le Grand Diplôme
Spouse	Paul Cushing Child (m. 1946–1994) «start: (1946)–end+1: (1995)»"Marriage: Paul Cushing Child to Julia Child" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Julia_Child) Married September 1, 1946
Television show(s) The French Chef, "Julia Child: bon appétit", Julia Child & Company, Dinner at Julia's, Cooking with Master Chefs, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, Baking with Julia, Julia Child & Jacques Pépin Cooking at Home
Award(s) won Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Service Show Host 1996 In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs 2001 Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home Emmy Award for Achievements in Educational Television—Individuals 1966 The French Chef Peabody Award 1965 The French Chef National Book Award, Current Interest 1980 Julia Child and More Company

Julia Child (née McWilliams;^[1] August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963.

In 1996, Julia Child was ranked #46 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.^[2]

Childhood and education[link]

Child was born Julia Carolyn McWilliams in Pasadena, California, the daughter of John McWilliams, Jr., a Princeton University graduate and prominent land manager, and his wife, the former Julia Carolyn ("Caro") Weston, a paper-company heiress whose father, Byron Curtis Weston, served as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. The eldest^[3] of three children, she had a brother, John III (1914–2002), and a sister, Dorothy Dean (1917–2006).^[4]

Child attended Westridge School, Polytechnic School from fourth grade to ninth grade, then The Katherine Branson School in Ross, California, which was at the time a boarding school. At six feet, two inches (1.88 m) tall, Child played tennis, golf, and basketball as a child and continued to play sports while attending Smith College, from which she graduated in 1934 with a major in English.^[1] A press release issued by Smith in 2004 states that her major was history.^[5]

Following her graduation from college, Child moved to New York City, where she worked as a copywriter for the advertising department of upscale home-furnishing firm W. & J. Sloane. Returning to California in 1937, she spent the next four years writing for local publications, working in advertising, and volunteering with the Junior League of Pasadena^[6].

World War II[link]

Child joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) after finding that she was too tall to enlist in the Women's Army Corps (WACs) or in the U.S. Navy's WAVES.^[7] She began her OSS career as a typist at its headquarters in Washington, but because of her education and experience soon was given a more responsible position as a top secret researcher working directly for the head of OSS, General William J. Donovan.^[8] As a research assistant in the Secret Intelligence division, she typed 10,000 names on white note cards to keep track of officers. For a year, she worked at the OSS Emergency Rescue Equipment Section (ERES) in Washington, D.C. as a file clerk and then as an assistant to developers of a shark repellent needed to ensure that sharks would not explode ordnance targeting German U-boats. In 1944 she was posted to Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where her responsibilities included "registering, cataloging and channeling a great volume of highly classified communications" for the OSS's clandestine stations in Asia.^[9] She was later posted to China, where she received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.^[10] For her service, Child received an award that cited her many virtues, including her "drive and inherent cheerfulness."^[8] As with other OSS records, Child's file was declassified in 2008, and, unlike other files, her complete file is available online.^[11]

While in Ceylon, she met Paul Cushing Child, also an OSS employee, and the two were married September 1, 1946 in Lumberville, Pennsylvania,^[12] later moving to Washington, D.C. Child, a New Jersey native^[13] who had lived in Paris as an artist and poet, was known for his sophisticated palate,^[14] and introduced his wife to fine cuisine. He joined the United States Foreign Service and in 1948 the couple moved to Paris when the US State Department assigned Paul there as an exhibits officer with the United States Information Agency.^[10] The couple had no children.

Post-war France[link]

Child repeatedly recalled her first meal in Rouen as a culinary revelation; once, she described the meal of oysters, sole meunière, and fine wine to The New York Times as "an opening up of the soul and spirit for me." In Paris she attended the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and later studied privately with Max Bugnard and other master chefs. She joined the women's cooking club Cercle des Gourmettes; through the club she met Simone Beck, who was writing a French cookbook for Americans with her friend Louisette Bertholle. Beck proposed that Child work with them, to make the book appeal to Americans.

In 1951, Child, Beck, and Bertholle began to teach cooking to American women in Child's Paris kitchen, calling their informal school L'école des trois gourmandes (The School of the Three Food Lovers). For the next decade, as the Childs moved around Europe and finally to Cambridge, Massachusetts, the three researched and repeatedly tested recipes. Child translated the French into English, making the recipes detailed, interesting, and practical.

In 1963, the Childs built a home near the Provence town of Plascassier in the hills above Cannes on property belonging to co-author Simone Beck and her husband, Jean Fischbacher. The Childs named it "La Pitchoune", a Provençal word meaning "the little one" but over time the property was often affectionately referred to simply as "La Peetch".^[15]

Books and television[link]

Julia Child at the Miami Book Fair International of 1989

The three would-be authors initially signed a contract with publisher Houghton Mifflin, which later rejected the manuscript for seeming too much like an encyclopedia. Finally, when it was first published in 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf, the 734-page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a best-seller and received critical acclaim that derived in part from the American interest in French culture in the early 1960s. Lauded for its helpful illustrations and precise attention to detail, and for making fine cuisine accessible, the book is still in print and is considered a seminal culinary work. Following this success, Child wrote magazine articles and a regular column for The Boston Globe newspaper. She would go on to publish nearly twenty titles under her name and with others. Many, though not all, were related to her television shows. Her last book was the autobiographical My Life in France, published posthumously in 2006 and written with her nephew, Alex Prud'homme. The book recounts Child's life with her husband, Paul Child, in post-World War II France.

[edit] The French Chef and related books

A 1962 appearance on a book review show on the National Educational Television (NET) station of Boston, WGBH, led to the inception of her first television cooking show after viewers enjoyed her demonstration of how to cook an omelette. The French Chef had its debut on February 11, 1963, on WGBH and was immediately successful. The show ran nationally for ten years and won Peabody and Emmy Awards, including the first Emmy award for an educational program. Though she was not the first television cook, Child was the most widely seen. She attracted the broadest audience with her cheery enthusiasm, distinctively charming warbly voice, and non-patronizing and unaffected manner.

In 1972, The French Chef became the first television program to be captioned for the deaf, albeit in the preliminary technology of open captioning.^[16]

Child's second book, The French Chef Cookbook, was a collection of the recipes she had demonstrated on the show. It was soon followed in 1971 by Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two, again in collaboration with Simone Beck, but not with Louisette Bertholle, with whom the professional relationship had ended.^[17] Child's fourth book, From Julia Child's Kitchen, was illustrated with her husband's photographs and documented the color series of The French Chef, as well as providing an extensive library of kitchen notes compiled by Child during the course of the show.

In 1981 she founded The American Institute of Wine & Food,^[18] with vintners Robert Mondavi and Richard Graff, and others, to "advance the understanding, appreciation and quality of wine and food," a pursuit she had already begun with her books and television appearances.

Later shows and books[link]

In the 1970s and 1980s, she was the star of numerous television programs, including Julia Child & Company, Julia Child & More Company and Dinner at Julia's. For the 1979 book Julia Child and More Company she won a National Book Award in category Current Interest.^[19] During those years she also produced what she considered her magnum opus, a book and instructional video series collectively entitled The Way To Cook, which was published in 1989.

Julia Child at KUHT

She starred in four more series in the 1990s that featured guest chefs: Cooking with Master Chefs, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, Baking With Julia, and Julia Child & Jacques Pépin Cooking at Home. She collaborated with Jacques Pépin many times for television programs and cookbooks. All of Child's books during this time stemmed from the television series of the same names.

Child's use of ingredients like butter and cream has been questioned by food critics and modern-day nutritionists. She addressed these criticisms throughout her career, predicting that a "fanatical fear of food" would take over the country's dining habits, and that focusing too much on nutrition takes the pleasure from enjoying food.^[20][21] In a 1990 interview, Child said, "Everybody is overreacting. If fear of food continues, it will be the death of gastronomy in the United States. Fortunately, the French don't suffer from the same hysteria we do. We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life."^[22]

Home as television set[link]

Julia Child's kitchen

Julia Child's kitchen, designed by her husband, was the setting for three of her television shows. It is now on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Beginning with In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, the Childs' home kitchen in Cambridge was fully transformed into a functional set, with TV-quality lighting, three cameras positioned to catch all angles in the room, and a massive center island with a gas stovetop on one side and an electric stovetop on the other, but leaving the rest of the Childs' appliances alone, including "my wall oven with its squeaking door."^[23] This kitchen backdrop hosted nearly all of Child's 1990s television series.

Other appearances[link]

She appeared in an episode of This Old House as designer of the kitchen. This Old House was launched in 1979 by Russell Morash, who helped create The French Chef with Julia Child.^[24]

Awards[link]

Emmy Awards[link]

1. 1966: Achievements in Educational Television- Individuals for The French Chef, won
2. 1972: Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – General Programming for The French Chef, nominated
3. 1994: Outstanding Informational Series for Cooking with Master Chefs, nominated

Daytime Emmy Awards[link]

1. 1996: Outstanding Service Show Host for In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, won
2. 1997: Outstanding Service Show Host for Baking with Julia, nominated
3. 1999: Outstanding Service Show Host for Baking with Julia, nominated
4. 2000: Outstanding Service Show Host for Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, nominated
5. 2001: Outstanding Service Show Host for Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home, won

Peabody Awards[link]

1. 1965: Personal Award for The French Chef, won

U.S. National Book Awards[link]

1. 1980: Current Interest (hardcover) for Julia Child and More Company, won^[19]

In popular culture[link]

Child was a favorite of audiences from the moment of her television debut on public television in 1963, and she was a familiar part of American culture and the subject of numerous references. In 1966 she was featured on the cover of Time with the heading, "Our Lady of the Ladle." Then in the classic 1968 thriller, No Way to Treat a Lady, she was mentioned by Lee Remick's character Kate Palmer as " that Julia Child woman " that she ( Kate ) was desirious to take cooking tips from to prepare gourmet meals in order to impress her new boyfriend Detective Morriss Brummell, played by George Segal.

In a 1978 Saturday Night Live sketch (episode 74^[25]), she was parodied by Dan Aykroyd continuing with a cooking show despite ludicrously profuse bleeding from a cut to his thumb, and eventually expiring while advising "Save the liver". Child reportedly loved this sketch so much she showed it to friends at parties.^{[citation needed]}

Jean Stapleton portrayed her in a 1989 musical, Bon Appétit!, based on one of her televised cooking lessons. The title derived from her famous TV sign-off: "This is Julia Child. Bon appétit!" She was the inspiration for the character "Julia Grownup" on the Children's Television Workshop program, The Electric Company (1971–1977), and was portrayed (or more accurately, parodied) in many other television and radio programs and skits, including The Cosby Show (1984–1992) by character Heathcliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and Garrison Keillor's radio series A Prairie Home Companion by voice actor Tim Russell. Julia Child's TV show is briefly portrayed in the 1986 movie, The Money Pit starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long; the 1985 Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan and the 1991 comedy Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead. In 1993, she was the voice of Dr. Juliet Bleeb in the children's film We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. Child's TV show was also featured in the 1993 movie Mrs. Doubtfire, when Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire (Robin Williams) is watching the show to learn gourmet cooking.

In 2002, Child was the inspiration for "The Julie/Julia Project," a popular cooking blog by Julie Powell that was the basis of Powell's 2005 bestselling book, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, the paperback version of which was retitled Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.^[26][27] The blog and book, along with Child's own memoir, in turn inspired the 2009 feature film Julie & Julia. (Meryl Streep portrayed Child in half the narrative.) Child is reported to have been unimpressed by Powell's blog, believing Powell's determination to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year to be a stunt. Child's editor, Judith Jones, said in an interview: "Flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn't attractive, to me or Julia. She didn't want to endorse it. What came through on the blog was somebody who was doing it almost for the sake of a stunt. She would never really describe the end results, how delicious it was, and what she learned. Julia didn’t like what she called 'the flimsies.' She didn't suffer fools, if you know what I mean."^[28]

Retirement[link]

Signature of Julia Child

After the death of her beloved friend Simone Beck, Child relinquished La Peetch after a month long stay in June 1992 with her niece, Phila, and her family. She turned the keys over to Jean Fischbacher's sister, just as she and Paul had promised nearly 30 years earlier. Paul, who was ten years older, died in 1994 after living in a nursing home for five years following a series of strokes in 1989.^[29]

In 2001, she moved to a retirement community in Santa Barbara, California, donating her house and office to Smith College, which later sold the house.^[30] She donated her kitchen, which her husband designed with high counters to accommodate her formidable height, and which served as the set for three of her television series, to the National Museum of American History, where it is now on display.^[31] Her iconic copper pots and pans were on display at COPIA in Napa, California, until August 2009 when they were reunited with her kitchen at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

In 2000, Child received the French Legion of Honor^[32][33] and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000.^[34] She was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003. Child also received honorary doctorates from Harvard University, Johnson & Wales University in 1995, her alma mater Smith College, Brown University in 2000,^[35] and several other universities.

Death[link]

On August 13, 2004, Julia Child died of kidney failure at her retirement community home, Casa Dorinda, in Montecito, two days before her 92nd birthday.^[36] Child ended her last book, My Life in France, with "... thinking back on it now reminds that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite – toujours bon appétit!"^[29]

Films[link]

On August 18, 2004, a documentary filmed during her lifetime premiered. Produced by WGBH, the one-hour feature, Julia Child! America's Favorite Chef, was aired as the first episode of the 18th season of the PBS series American Masters. The film combined archive footage of Child with current footage from those who influenced and were influenced by her life and work.^[37][38]

A film adapted by Nora Ephron from Child's memoir My Life in France and from Julie Powell's memoir, and directed by Ephron, Julie & Julia, was released on August 7, 2009. Meryl Streep played Child; her performance was nominated for numerous awards, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical or Comedy.

A film titled Primordial Soup With Julia Child was on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Life in The Universe gallery from 1976 until the gallery closed.^[39]

She also voiced the character Doctor Juliet Bleeb, an eccentric Museum of Natural History employee in the children's movie We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story.

Public works[link]

Television series[link]

• The French Chef (1963–1973)
• Julia Child & Company (1978–1979)
• Julia Child & More Company (1980–1982)
• Dinner at Julia's (1983–1985)
• The Way To Cook (1989) six one-hour videocassettes
• A Birthday Party for Julia Child: Compliments to the Chef (1992)
• Cooking with Master Chefs: Hosted by Julia Child (1993–1994) 16 episodes
• Cooking In Concert: Julia Child & Jacques Pepin (1993)
• In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs (1994–1996), 39 episodes
• Cooking in Concert: Julia Child & Jacques Pepin (1995) ^[40]
• Baking with Julia (1996–1998) 39 episodes
• Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home (1999–2000) 22 episodes
• Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom, (2000) two-hour special

DVD releases[link]

• Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom (2000)
• Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home (2003)
• Julia Child: America's Favorite Chef (2004)
• The French Chef: Volume One (2005)
• The French Chef: Volume Two (2005)
• Julia Child! The French Chef (2006)
• The Way To Cook (2009)
• Baking With Julia (2009)
• Julie & Julia (2010)

Books[link]

• Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961), with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle—ISBN 0-375-41340-5
• The French Chef Cookbook (1968)—ISBN 0-394-40135-2
• Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two (1970), with Simone Beck—ISBN 0-394-40152-2
• From Julia Child's Kitchen (1975)—ISBN 0-517-20712-5
• Julia Child & Company (1978)—ISBN 0-345-31449-2
• Julia Child & More Company (1979)—ISBN 0-345-31450-6
• The Way To Cook (1989)—ISBN 0-394-53264-3
• Julia Child's Menu Cookbook (1991), one-volume edition of Julia Child & Company and Julia Child & More Company—ISBN 0-517-06485-5
• Cooking With Master Chefs (1993)—ISBN 0-679-74829-6
• In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs (1995)—ISBN 0-679-43896-3
• Baking with Julia (1996)—ISBN 0-688-14657-0
• Julia's Delicious Little Dinners (1998)—ISBN 0-375-40336-1
• Julia's Menus For Special Occasions (1998)—ISBN 0-375-40338-8
• Julia's Breakfasts, Lunches & Suppers (1999)—ISBN 0-375-40339-6
• Julia's Casual Dinners (1999)—ISBN 0-375-40337-X
• Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (1999), with Jacques Pépin—ISBN 0-375-40431-7
• Julia's Kitchen Wisdom (2000)—ISBN 0-375-41151-8
• My Life in France (2006, posthumous), with Alex Prud'homme—ISBN 1-4000-4346-8
• (collected in) American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes, ed. Molly O'Neill (Library of America, 2007) ISBN 1-59853-005-4

By Others[link]

• Barr, Nancy Verde (28 March 2008). Backstage with Julia: My Years with Julia Child. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-27637-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=nMEN6E_HPr8C. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
• Conant, Jennet (5 April 2011). A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-6352-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=I6mW-aqF138C. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
• Fitch, Noel Riley (13 April 1999). Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child. Random House Digital, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-385-49383-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=GDDYYhUS4i0C. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
• Painter, Charlotte; Valois, Pamela (1985). Gifts of age: portraits and essays of 32 remarkable women. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-87701-368-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=pgKxAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
• Reardon, Joan (1 December 2010). As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-41771-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZLobsQtg3W8C. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 
• Shapiro, Laura (1 August 2009). Julia Child: A Life. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-311644-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=mloe4yhNct8C. Retrieved 14 October 2011. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Julia Child

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Julia Child

• Julia Child at the Internet Movie Database
• Julia Child: Lessons with Master Chefs from PBS
• Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian
• American television interview with Julia Child on June 25, 1999, at Google Video
• Coverage of Julia Child in The New York Times
• Interview in Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.
• JULIA CHILD: 1912–2004 TV's French chef taught us how to cook with panache, Obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle
• The IMDb page for the film "Julie & Julia" starring Meryl Streep
• Julia Child Papers.Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Works by or about Julia Child in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• "Live Eat Enjoy: A Visit With Julia Child", Ms. Magazine Summer 2003
• "No beef with Julia’s kitchen: Her home’s new owner lacks the bone appetite", The Boston Globe August 31, 2009

A centenarian is a person who lives to or beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average global life expectancies are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. A supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Even rarer is a person who has lived to age 115; as of April 2012^[update], there are only 27 people in recorded history who have indisputably reached this age.^[1][2][3] In 2009, the United Nations estimated that there were 455,000 living centenarians worldwide.^[4]

Current incidence[link]

A photo of the Canadian centenarian Muriel Duckworth, taken in honor of her 100th birthday in 2008.

The United States currently has the greatest number of centenarians of any nation, estimated at 70,490 on September 1, 2010.^[5] This corresponds to a national incidence of one centenarian per 4,400 people.^[6]

Japan has the second-largest number of centenarians, with an estimated 47,756 as of September 2011.^[7] Japan started its surveys in 1963, at which time the number of Japanese centenarians was found to be 153. This number surpassed the 10,000 mark in 1998, 20,000 in 2003, and 40,000 in 2009. According to a UN Demographic survey, Japan is expected to have 272,000 centenarians by 2050.^[8] However, some sources suggest that the number could be closer to 1 million.^[9] Many experts attribute Japan's high life expectancy to the Japanese diet, which is particularly low in refined simple carbohydrates, and to hygienic practices. In addition, the number of centenarians in relation to the total population was, in September 2010, 114% higher in Shimane Prefecture than the ratio for the whole of Japan. This ratio was also 92% higher in Okinawa Prefecture.^[10][11] In addition to diet, there are four other factors that have been found to increase the life expectancy for Okinawans, as noted later in the "research into centenarians" section of this article.^[12] The incidence of centenarians in Japan was one per 3,522 people in 2008,^[13] although Okinawa again exceeded this average, with one per 1,838 people in 2006.

Centenarian controversy in Japan[link]

The number of Japanese centenarians was called into question in 2010, following a series of reports showing that hundreds of thousands of elderly people had gone "missing" in the country. The deaths of many centenarians had not been reported, casting doubt on the country's reputation for having a large population of centenarians.^{[14][15][16][17]}

In July 2010, a centenarian listed as the oldest living male in Tokyo, registered to be aged 111, was found to have died some 30 years before; his body was found mummified in its bed,^[18] resulting in a police investigation into centenarians listed over the age of 105. Soon after the discovery, the Japanese police further found that at least 200 other Japanese centenarians were missing, with the total likely to rise amid a nationwide search that began in early August 2010.^[19] In one case, the remains of a mother thought to be 104 had been stuffed into her son's backpack for nearly a decade.^[20]

There are growing concerns that Japan's welfare system can be exploited by unscrupulous family members keen to continue receiving benefits after the pensioners die.^[19] In one case, a man received around 9.5 million yen in pension payments despite his wife having died six years previously.^[19]

Centenarian populations[link]

The total number of centenarians in the world remains uncertain. It has been estimated by the Population Division of the United Nations as 23,000 in 1950, 110,000 in 1990, 150,000 in 1995, 209,000 in 2000 and 324,000 in 2005.^[21] There were an estimated 455,000 centenarians in the world in 2009.^[4] However, these estimates do not take into account the recent downward adjustments of national estimates made by several countries, such as the United States.^[22] The following table lists estimated centenarian populations by country, including both the latest and the earliest known estimates, where available.

Traditions[link]

An 1895 photograph of a Chaldean man from Mosul, Iraq, said to be 107 years old.

In many countries, people receive a gift or congratulations on their 100th birthday. In the United States, centenarians traditionally receive a letter from the President, congratulating them for their longevity. NBC's The Today Show show has also named new centenarians on air since 1983. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms, the Queen sends greetings (formerly as a telegram) on the 100th birthday and on every birthday starting with the 105th. Centenarians born in Ireland receive a €2,540 "Centenarians' Bounty" and a letter from the President of Ireland, even if they are resident abroad.^[50] Japanese centenarians receive a silver cup and a certificate from the Prime Minister of Japan upon their 100th birthday, honouring them for their longevity and prosperity in their lives. Swedish centenarians receive a telegram from the King and Queen of Sweden.^[51] Centenarians born in Italy receive a letter from the President of Italy. In Japan, a "National Respect for the Aged Day" has been celebrated every September since 1966.

An aspect of blessing in many cultures is to offer a wish that the recipient lives to 100. Among Hindus, people who touch the feet of elders are often blessed with "May you live a hundred years". In Sweden, the traditional birthday song states, May he/she live for one hundred years. In Judaism, the term May you live to be 120 years old is a common blessing. In Poland, Sto lat, a wish to live a hundred years, is a traditional form of praise and good wishes, and the song "sto lat, sto lat" is sang on the occasion of the birthday celebrations--arguably, it is the most popular song in Poland and among Poles around the globe. Chinese emperors were hailed to live ten thousand years, while empresses were hailed to live a thousand years. In Italy, "A hundred of these days!" (cento di questi giorni) is an augury for birthdays, to live to celebrate 100 more birthdays.^[52] Some Italians say "Cent'anni!", which means "a hundred years", in that they wish that they could all live happily for a hundred years. In Greece, wishing someone Happy Birthday ends with the expression να τα εκατοστήσεις (na ta ekatostisis), which can be loosely translated as "may you make it one hundred birthdays".

Centenarians in ancient times[link]

While the density of centenarians per capita was much less in ancient times than today, the data suggest that reaching the age of 100 was not unheard of. However, ancient demographics are biased in favor of wealthy or powerful individuals rather than the ordinary person. Grmek and Gourevitch speculate that during the Classical Greek Period, anyone who made it past the age of five years — surviving all the common childhood illness of that day — had a reasonable chance of living to a ripe old age. Life expectancy at 400 B.C. was estimated to be around 30 years of age. One demographer of ancient civilizations reported that Greek men lived to 45 years (based on a sample size of 91), while women lived to 36.2 years (based on a sample size of 55). Curiously, the gender statistics are inverted compared to today, since child-birth was a much more traumatic experience at that time than now, and it certainly skewed female statistics downward. It was common for average citizens to take great care in their hygiene (sanitation), Mediterranean diet (fish, figs, olive oil, wine, etc.), and exercise program (sports/gymnasium), although there was much more male trauma per capita than today, due to military service being virtually universal for citizens. This also biased the statistics for men downward.^[53]

Diogenes Laertius (c. 250) gives one of the earliest references regarding (plausible centenarian) longevity given by a scientist, the astronomer Hipparchus of Nicea (c. 185 – c. 120 B.C.), who, according to the doxographer, assured that the philosopher Democritus of Abdera (c. 470/460 – c. 370/360 B.C.) lived 109 years. All other accounts about Democritus given by the ancients appear to agree on the fact that the philosopher lived over 100 years. Such longevity would not be dramatically out of line with that of other ancient Greek philosophers thought to have lived beyond the age of 90 (e.g.: Xenophanes of Colophon, c. 570/565 – c. 475/470 B.C.; Pyrrho of Ellis, c. 360 - c. 270 B.C.; Eratosthenes of Cirene c. 285 – c. 190 B.C., etc.). The case of Democritus differs from the case of, for example, Epimenides of Crete (7th, 6th centuries B.C.), who is said to have lived an implausible 154, 157 or 290 years, depending on the source.

The sixth dynasty Egyptian ruler Pepi II is believed by some Egyptologists to have lived to the age of 100 or more (c. 2278 BC - c. 2184 BC), as he ruled for 94 years.^[54] However this is under dispute, as others claim the length of his reign was actually 64 years.^[55]

The Indian Sufi poet, Kabir (1398-1518?) is believed by some to have lived to an implausible age of 120 while others believe that he lived for no more than 80 years.

Ultimately, there is no reason to believe that centenarians did not exist 2500 years ago, even if they were not commonplace.^[56]

Hosius of Córdoba, the man who convinced Constantine the Great to call the First Council of Nicaea, reportedly lived to age 102.

The Chronicon of Bernold of Constance records the death in 1097 of Azzo marchio de Longobardia, pater Welfonis ducis de Baiowaria, commenting that he was iam maior centenario.^[57]

Research into centenarians[link]

Research carried out in Italy suggests that healthy centenarians have high levels of vitamin A and vitamin E and that this seems to be important in guaranteeing their extreme longevity.^[58] Other research contradicts this, however, and has found that these findings do not apply to centenarians from Sardinia, for whom other factors probably play a more important role.^[59] A preliminary study carried out in Poland showed that, in comparison with young healthy female adults, centenarians living in Upper Silesia had significantly higher red blood cell glutathione reductase and catalase activities and higher, although insignificantly, serum levels of vitamin E.^[60] Researchers in Denmark have also found that centenarians exhibit a high activity of glutathione reductase in red blood cells. In this study, those centenarians having the best cognitive and physical functional capacity tended to have the highest activity of this enzyme.^[61]

Other research has found that people having parents who became centenarians have an increased number of naïve B cells. It is well known that the children of parents who have a long life are also likely to reach a healthy age, but it is not known why, although the inherited genes are probably important.^[62] A variation in the gene FOXO3A is known to have a positive effect on the life expectancy of humans, and is found much more often in people living to 100 and beyond - moreover, this appears to be true worldwide.^[63]

Men and women who are 100 or older tend to have something else in common, an extraverted personality, says Thomas T. Perls, M.D., M.P.H., the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University. Centenarians will often have many friends, strong ties to relatives and a healthy dose of self-esteem.^[64]

Some research suggests that centenarian offspring are more likely to age in better cardiovascular health than their peers.^[65]

In John W. Santrock's book "A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development", there are five factors that research has suggested that are most important to longevity in centenarians:^[12] 1) heredity and family history 2) health, i.e. weight, diet, whether or not a person smokes, amount of exercise 3) education level 4) personality 5) lifestyle.^[12]

Santrock's book also noted that the largest group of centenarians are women who have never been married.^[12] Also, people who have been through traumatic life events, such as Holocaust survivors, learn to cope better with stress and poverty and are more likely to reach centenarian status.^[12]

In Okinawa, Japan, studies have shown five factors that have contributed to the large number of centenarians in that region:^[12]

1. A diet that is heavy on grains, fish, and vegetables and light on meat, eggs, and dairy products.
2. Low-stress lifestyles, which are proven significantly less stressful than that of the mainland inhabitants of Japan.
3. A caring community, where older adults are not isolated and are taken better care of.
4. High levels of activity, where locals work until an older age than the average age in other countries, and more emphasis on activities like walking and gardening to keep active.
5. Spirituality, where a sense of purpose comes from involvement in spiritual matters and prayer eases the mind of stress and problems.^[12]

Although these factors vary from those mentioned in the previous study, the culture of Okinawa has proven these factors to be important in its large population of centenarians.^[12]

See also[link]

• Lists of centenarians
• New England Centenarian Study
• Okinawa Centenarian Study
• Oldest people
• Queensland Community Care Network, which operates the centenarians-only 100+ Club

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Koch, Tina; Kralik, Debbie; Power, Charmaine (2005). 100 Years Old: 24 Australian Centenarians Tell Their Stories. Camberwell, Vic: Viking. ISBN 0-670-02872-X. 

External links[link]

• The Okinawa Centenarian Study
• New England Centenarian Study
• Living to 100 and Beyond: Search for Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity^{[dead link]}
• Mortality of Centenarians
• U.S. politicians who lived the longest
• Noted Nonagenarians and Centenarians
• Centenarian research & celebration
• Living Beyond 100 - International Longevity Center UK
• Table of numbers of centenarians for select nations, 1960 and 1990
• Centenarians’ Road

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)

Diether Krebs (11 August 1947 in Essen, Germany – 4 January 2000 in Hamburg) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian.

Life and career[link]

Youth and initial success[link]

Diether Krebs was born on 11 August 1947 in Essen, the son of a stationery shop owner. His godfather was Diether Posser, a lawyer, SPD politician and erstwhile Minister for Justice and Finance for North Rhine Westphalia. Krebs gained his first experience in the theatre at school at the Humboldt Gymnasium in Essen. He took acting lessons at the renowned "Folkwangschule" school of performing arts in the Ruhrgebiet and took on his first role at the theatre in Oberhausen, followed by some small film roles. Of these, his most noteworthy appearance was in the film Zoff (1971) in which he played alongside well-known actors such as Jürgen Prochnow and Claus Theo Gärtner.

From 1973, Krebs became famous for his role as "Michael Graf" in the legendary comedy series Ein Herz und eine Seele, the German version of Til Death Us Do Part. Krebs played the same role as Tony Booth's Mike, the left-wing son-in-law of Alfred Tetzlaff (Alf Garnett), played by Heinz Schubert. In 1974, however, he left the series due to differences with the producers WDR.

In the time that followed, Krebs made many television appearances, both in light entertainment and in more sophisticated series. In 1975, Peter Zadek chose him to play in Eiszeit with Heinz Bennent; in 1980 he played a main role in Die Judenbuche based on the story by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.

Detective thrillers[link]

In 1978, Krebs turned to crime series: for eight years, from 1978 to 1986, he played "Dieter Herrle", the miserable chief detective in the series SOKO 5113. He made several guest appearances in the classic detective series Tatort, as well as in the famous Polizeiruf 110 and Der Alte.

Comedian and cabaret artist[link]

Krebs achieved more success as a cabaret artist and comedian: in 1981, he made regular appearances on Rudis Tagesshow with Rudi Carrell, alongside Beatrice Richter and Klaus Havenstein. This poked fun at the main news programme, the Tagesschau, and caused a good deal of uproar. Krebs left his series, again because of disagreements with the producer (ARD).

From 1985 to 1987 Krebs achieved cult status with his comedy series Sketchup in which he took on a wide range of different roles, accompanied at first by Beatrice Richter and then by Iris Berben. The series also became popular in other countries, such as Belgium. This series, followed by Knastmusik (1990) and Lauter nette Nachbarn (also 1990) built up Krebs's reputation as a comedian.

Actor, singer and presenter[link]

In the years that followed, Diether Krebs acted in roles of varying quality. In 1986 he played the hairdresser "Hupsi" in Helmut Dietl's successful series Kir Royal; in 1993 he took on a role in the catastrophe film Möbius by Matti Geschonneck. In 1991 he acted as a long-distance driver in the comedy Go Trabi Go by Peter Timm. That same year, he entered the German music charts: for a while he became famous as "Martin", a naive tree-hugger in a hand-knitted Fair Isle jumper with straggly hair and prominent teeth. He also played this character on stage.

Krebs also worked as a television presenter, for example hosting the New Year Gala on MDR from 1996 and the Goldene Henne media award ceremony in 1999, also on MDR.

Hard times and a comeback[link]

The last years of Diether Krebs's life were marked by his dwindling success and serious illness. In 1993, the RTL show R.O.S.T. - Die Diether Krebs-Show, which also starred Hugo Egon Balder, was cancelled after thirteen episodes. The Sat.1 comedy series Der Dicke und der Belgier with the Flemish comedian Carry Goossens was also cancelled in 1998 due to low viewing figures.

By now, Krebs had serious heart problems and had to undergo heart surgery. Nonetheless, at this time, he developed a new character which he played on stage: "Herr Krups", a funny sales rep with horn-rimmed glasses and wonky teeth. In 1998 he set off on a tour, starting in Berlin, with a routine including his own version of the Ruhrgebiet's ode to Currywurst. The text of this song which Herbert Grönemeyer made famous was written by Krebs.

His last role[link]

In 1999, Diether Krebs played his last role in the Ruhrgebiet-based action comedy film Bang Boom Bang - Ein todsicheres Ding. Playing slimeball shipping agent Werner Kampmann he appeared alongside Ralf Richter and others in this film directed by Peter Thorwarth. Some film critics acclaimed this as Krebs's best ever part. Krebs was also scheduled to act in the longer cinema version of the film but died 8 month earlier from lung cancer.

Films[link]

• 1970: Die tollkühnen Penner
• 1973: Ein Herz und eine Seele (until 1974)
• 1974: Eiszeit
• 1979: Tatort - Alles umsonst
• 1981: Silas
• 1987: Beule - oder wie man einen Tresor knackt
• 1990: Go Trabi Go
• 1999: Bang Boom Bang

Source[link]

Large parts of this article were translated from the German version as of October 30, 2006

See also[link]

Biography portal

• German television comedy
• Cabaret

External links[link]

• IMDB article
• Short biography in German
• Photo of Krebs at Find a Grave