Delia Smith

Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to become more culinarily adventurous. She is also famous for her role as joint majority shareholder at Norwich City F.C. Early life Born to Harold Bartlett Smith (1920–1999), an English RAF radio operator, and Welsh mother Etty Jones Lewis (1919–2020), in Woking, Surrey, Smith attended Bexleyheath School, leaving at the age of 16 without a single O-level. Her first job was as a hairdresser; she also worked as a shop assistant and in a travel agency. Cookery career At 21, she started work in a small restaurant in Paddington, initially washing dishes before moving on to waitressing and eventually being allowed to help with the cooking. She started reading English cookery books in the Reading Room at the British Museum, trying out the recipes on a Harley Street family with whom she was living. Her next job was at Carlton Studios in London, where she prepared food for studio photography.