American chef, writer and television presenter James Beard was BOTD in 1903. Born in Portland, Oregon to a middle-class family, his early interest in food was inspired by his family’s Chinese cook Jue-Let. He briefly attended Reed College, though was expelled in 1922 after having sex with male students and his professor. He quickly left America, spending several years in Europe, settling in Paris where he studied theatre, had his first open relationship with a man and fell in love with French cuisine. He returned to America in 1937, opening a catering company in New York and publishing his first cookbook, Hors D’Oeuvre and Canapés, in 1940. During World War Two, he enlisted in the army, obtaining a release in 1943 due to his age. In 1946, he began hosting the TV cooking show I Love to Eat, becoming the first chef to demonstrate cooking on American network television. His show became an instant success, noted for Beard’s enthusiastic screen presence and emphasis on “American cooking”, which appealed to xenophobic post-war audiences. He became a national celebrity, publishing over 20 cookbooks and collaborating with fellow chefs Julia Child and Helen Evans Brown. He opened the James Beard Cooking School in 1955, covering his expenses by endorsing ready-made food brands – a compromise to his fresh food principles that he later regretted. In 1986, he established the James Beard Foundation, providing scholarships to culinary students, including the young Anthony Bourdain. Discreetly gay for most of his life, he publicly announced his sexuality in his 1981 memoir Delights and Prejudices. He had a relationship with his cooking school assistant Carl Jerome, and was in a 30 year partnership with Gino Cofacci until his death. Beard died in 1985, aged 81.