Infobox actor
imagesize = 150px
birthdate = Birth date and age|1933|8|13|mf=y
birthplace = Delhi, British India
Madhur Jaffrey (Hindi: मधुर जाफरी "madhur jāphrī"; born August 13, 1933) is an Indian actress, who has also found fame as a food writer, introducing the Western world to the many cuisines of India.
Biography
Personal life
She was born Madhur Bahadur in Delhi, British India and was educated at Miranda House (of the University of Delhi). After college, she worked for All India Radio. [ [http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/madhurjaffrey!opendocument Practically Edible] ] She then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated with honors in 1957. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3322487.stm BBC NEWS | South Asia | Moving stories: Madhur Jaffrey ] ] She then met and married Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey and moved to New York City. She and Saeed divorced in 1965. They have three daughters, Meera, Zia and Sakina Jaffrey. In 1969, she married Sanford Allen, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. [Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC]
Merchant Ivory films
Madhur Jaffrey is said to have been responsible for introducing James Ivory and Ismail Merchant. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E7D9133FF931A35752C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink "Telling Secrets That Worked For a Gambling Life in Films", "The New York Times"] 2 January 2003] She appeared in a number of their earlier films: "Shakespeare Wallah" (1965) (a role for which she won Berlin Film Festival's Best Actress award), "The Guru" (1969), "Autobiography of a Princess", (1976) "Heat and Dust" (1983), directed by Ivory, and "The Perfect Murder" (1988). She starred as the title character in their film "Cotton Mary" (1999) and co-directed it with Merchant.
Other films and TV
She has appeared in "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993), "Vanya on 42nd Street" (1994) and "Prime" (2005). She starred in and produced "ABCD" (1999) and guest-starred in the ' episode "Name" as a psychiatrist, and the ' episode "The Healer" as a lecturer. In 1985, she was in the Hindi film "Saagar" where she played the role of Rishi Kapoor's grandmother. In 1999, she appeared with daughter Sakina Jaffrey in the film Chutney Popcorn.
Theater
In 1962, she appeared in "A Tenth of an Inch Makes the Difference" by Rolf Forsberg. [Esterow, Milton: "Plays by Rolf Forsberg Open at the East End", "The New York Times", 13 November 1962] In 1969, she appeared in "The Guide", based on the novel by R. K. Narayan [Barnes, Clive: "Theater: Reluctant Guru", "The New York Times", 7 March 1968] , and in 1970, she appeared in "Conduct Unbecoming", written by Barry England. ["New Castings Listed", "The New York Times", page 54, 21 September 1970] In 1993, she appeared in "Two Rooms" by Lee Blessing. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0D61031F93BA25751C0A965958260&scp=8&sq=%22two+rooms%22&st=nyt "Divided by Space and Captivity, but United in Spirit", "The New York Times"] 18 February 1993] In 1999, she appeared in "Last Dance at Dum Dum" by Ayub Khan-Din. [Wolf, Matt, "Last Dance at Dum Dum", "Variety", 9 August 1999] In 2004, Jaffrey appeared in "Bombay Dreams" on Broadway where she played the main character's grandmother (Shanti).[http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/bombaydreams/cast/broadwayorig2004.htm Bombay Dreams Broadway 2004 cast] In 2005, she appeared in "India Awakening" by Anne Marie Cummings.]Cooking
Jaffrey is the noted author of cookbooks of Indian, Asian, and world vegetarian cuisines, many of which have become bestsellers and several of which have won James Beard Foundation awards. She has presented several cookery series on television, including "Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery" in 1982, "Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery" in 1989 and "Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India" in 1995. [ [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/J/htmlJ/jaffreymadh/jaffreymadh.htm Jaffrey, Madhur ] ] She lives in Manhattan and has a home in upstate New York.
Ironically, she did not cook at all as a child growing up in Delhi. She had almost never been in the kitchen and almost failed cooking at school.[Claiborne, Craig: "Indian Actress Is a Star in the Kitchen, Too", "The New York Times", 7 July 1966] It was only after she went to London at the age of 19 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art that she learned how to cook, using recipes of familiar dishes that were provided in correspondence from her mother. [Jaffrey, Madhur, "Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking", Barron's Educational Series, 1983. ISBN 978-0812065480] In the 1960s, after her award-winning performance in "Shakespeare Wallah", she became known as the "actress who could cook" and was hired by the BBC to present a show on Indian cooking. [Bhaskaran, Nandini: "An actress who can cook", "The Times of India", 18 November 2007] After an article about her and her cooking appeared in the "New York Times" in 1966, she received a book contract that produced "An Invitation to Indian Cooking", her first book. [Johnson, Bonnie and Vespa, Mary: "Indian cooking's New Delhi delight is actress Madhur Jaffrey", "People Weekly", 8 December 1986] The recipes in that book came from her mother, although she adapted them for the American kitchen. [Sokolov, Raymond: "Current Stars: Books on Indian, Italian and Inexpensive Food", "The New York Times", 19 April 1973] During the 1970s, she taught classes in Indian cooking, both at the James A. Beard School of Cooking and in her Manhattan apartment. In 1986, the restaurant Dawat opened in Manhattan using recipes provided by her. [Miller, Bryan: "Restaurants", "The New York Times", 12 December 1986] ]Awards
* Best Actress Award from the Berlin Film Festival in 1965 for her performance in "Shakespeare Wallah"
* Taraknath Das Foundation Award presented by the Taraknath Das Foundation of the Southern Asian Institute of Columbia University in 1993 [ [http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/sai/tdas.html Southern Asian Institute | About the Taraknath Das Foundation ] ]
* Named to "Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America" by the James Beard Foundation in 1995. [ [http://www.jamesbeard.org/index.php?q=james_beard_awards_whos_who Welcome to the James Beard Foundation ] ]
* Muse Award presented by New York Women in Film & Television in 2000. [ [http://www.nywift.org/article.aspx?id=38 New York Women in Film and Television ] ]
* Honorary CBE awarded on 11 October 2004 "in recognition of her services to cultural relations between the United Kingdom, India and the United States, through her achievements in film, television and cookery". [ [http://www.britainusa.com/sections/articles_show_nt1.asp?d=0&i=41074&L1=41013&L2=41013&a=25330 Madhur Jaffrey Made Honorary Commander of the British Empire ] ]
Books
Cookery Books
* "An Invitation to Indian Cooking" (1973) (James Beard Foundation Awards Cookbook Hall of Fame winner) — ISBN 978-0224011525
* "Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking" (1981) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0394402710
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking" (1973) — ISBN 978-0812065480
* "Eastern Vegetarian Cooking" (1983) — ISBN 978-0099777205
* "A Taste of India" (1988) — ISBN 978-1862050983
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Cookbook: Easy East/West Menus for Family and Friends" (1989) — ISBN 978-0330306355
* "Indian Cooking" (1989) — ISBN 978-0600563631
* "A Taste of the Far East" (1993) (James Beard Foundation Awards Cookbook of the Year winner) — ISBN 978-0517595480
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Spice Kitchen" (1993) — ISBN 978-0517596982
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Recipes" (1994) — ISBN 978-1857933970
* "Entertaining With Madhur Jaffrey" (1994) — ISBN 978-1857933697
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Flavors Of India: Classics and New Discoveries" (1995) — ISBN 978-0517700129
* "Cookbook Food for Family and Friends" (1995) — ISBN 978-1858131542
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking" (1996) — ISBN 978-0811859011
* "The Madhur Jaffrey Cookbook: Over 650 Indian, Vegetarian and Eastern Recipes" (1996) — ISBN 978-1855012684
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Illustrated Indian Cookery" (1996) — ISBN 978-0563383031
* "Madhur Jaffrey Cooks Curries" (1996) — ISBN 978-0563387947
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook" (1998) — ISBN 978-0091863647
* "Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian" (1999) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0517596326
* "The Essential Madhur Jaffrey" (1999) — ISBN 978-0091871741
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-Step Cooking" (2001) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0066214023
* "Foolproof Indian Cooking: Step by Step to Everyone's Favorite Indian Recipes" (2002) — ISBN 978-1553662587
* "Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking" (2003) — ISBN 978-0091884086
* "From Curries to Kebabs: Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail" (2003) (James Beard Foundation Awards winner) — ISBN 978-0609607046
* "Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible" (2003) — ISBN 978-0091874155
* "Simple Indian Cookery" (2005) — ISBN 978-0563521839
Other Books
* "Seasons of Splendour: Tales, Myths, and Legends of India" (1995) — ISBN 978-0689311413
* "Market Days: From Market to Market Around the World" (1995) — ISBN 978-0816735044
* "Robi Dobi: The Marvelous Adventures of an Indian Elephant" (1997) — ISBN 978-0803721937
* "Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India" (2006) — ISBN 978-1400042951
References
External links
*
*
* [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/J/htmlJ/jaffreymadh/jaffreymadh.htm Madhur Jaffrey] at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
* [http://www.ahitoziti.com/chef/Madhur+Jaffrey Meet Chef Madhur Jaffrey] at [http://www.ahitoziti.com AhitoZiti.com]
* [http://www.jamesbeard.org/?q=node/99 James Beard Foundation Awards]
* [http://gremolata.com/madhurjaffrey.htm gremolata.com] , 'Madhur Jaffrey Interview', February 2007.
Persondata
NAME= Jaffrey, Madhur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= 13 August 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH= Delhi, British India
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
