Padma Lakshmi (pronounced [ˈpÉ™d̪maË ËˆlÉ™kʃmiË]; born Padma Parvati Lakshmi Vaidynathan; September 1, 1970) is an American author, actress, model, television host and executive producer of Indian descent. Her debut cookbook Easy Exotic won her the "Best First Book" award at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. She has been the host of the US reality television program Top Chef since season two in 2006, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. In 2010, Top Chef won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. Her debut memoir Love, Loss and What We Ate was released on International Women's Day, March 8, 2016.
Early life
As a Tamilian, Padma Parvati Lakshmi Vaidynathan was born in Madras (now Chennai), India. Her father was an executive with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Her mother, Vijaya, is a retired nurse who specialized in oncology. Her parents divorced when she was two years old, and both parents later remarried. Lakshmi is her mother's only child, but she has a younger paternal half-brother and half-sister. Her half-sister has worked as an actress and classical dancer but is now pursuing a career working with children with special needs. In an interview in The Guardian, Lakshmi said, "My father had quit his job as an executive at Pfizer to manage her career. That was kind of like rubbing salt in the wound. I didn't understand why he wanted that relationship with her, and not with me."
Lakshmi's mother moved to the United States to escape the stigma of divorce in India. As a consequence, Lakshmi grew up shuttling between her grandparents in Chennai and her mother in New York. Her native tongue is Tamil, as her parents are Tamil Brahmin Iyers.
In 1984, when Lakshmi was fourteen years old, she was hospitalized for three weeks, and eventually diagnosed with Stevensâ€"Johnson syndrome, which is caused by hypersensitivity to an infection or certain kinds of medications. Two days after her discharge from the hospital, she was injured in a car accident in Malibu, California, which left her with a fractured right hip and a shattered right upper arm. The injury to her arm required surgery, which left her with a seven-inch scar between her elbow and shoulder.
As a teenager growing up in Los Angeles, Lakshmi was bullied and endured racial taunts from classmates, which caused her to struggle to overcome "internalized self-loathing."
Education
Lakshmi graduated from William Workman High School in the City of Industry, California in 1988. She is a 1992 graduate of Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she earned a BA with honors in theatre arts. During her time in school, she studied abroad in Madrid, where her modeling career began.
Lakshmi speaks English, Tamil, Hindi, Italian, and Spanish.
Career
Modeling
Lakshmi's modeling career began at age twenty-one while studying abroad in Madrid, when she was discovered by an agent while sitting in a café. She has stated, "I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan, and New York. I'm the first one to admit that I was a novelty." Lakshmi was able to pay off her college loans by working as a model and actress.
Lakshmi has modeled for designers such as Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus. She was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm.
Lakshmi has appeared on the covers of Redbook, Vogue India, FHM, Cosmopolitan, L'Officiel India, Asian Woman, Avenue, Industry Magazine, Marie Claire (India Edition), Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country, and Newsweek. Lakshmi also posed nude for the May 2009 issue of Allure magazine.
Books
Her first cookbook, Easy Exotic, a compilation of international recipes and short essays, was awarded Best First Book at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards at Versailles. She hosted the Food Network series Padma's Passport, which was part of the larger series Melting Pot in 2001, where Lakshmi cooked recipes from around the world. She also hosted two one-hour specials on South India and Spain for the British culinary tourism show Planet Food, broadcast on the Food Network in the U.S. and internationally on the Discovery Channels. Her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, was released on October 2, 2007. Her first memoir, entitled "Love, Loss and What We Ate," was released on International's Women's Day, March 8, 2016. Lakshmi released the "Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs" in October 2016.
Film and television
Lakshmi's first film roles were in the Italian pirate movies Il figlio di Sandokan and Caraibi (Pirates: Blood Brothers). She had a comical supporting part as the lip-synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie Glitter, starring Mariah Carey. Lakshmi starred in the 2003 film Boom as Sheila Bardez, one of a trio of supermodels accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges' 2005 film The Mistress of Spices. Lakshmi also made a guest appearance on the NBC series 30 Rock in 2009, and appeared on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 2014.
Lakshmi served as hostess of Domenica In, Italy's top-rated television show in 1997. In 2002, she made a guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo," the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. Lakshmi portrayed Sean Bean's nemesis Madhuvanthi in the 2004â€"2005 TV series Sharpe's Challenge. In 2006, Lakshmi appeared in ABC's TV series The Ten Commandments with Dougray Scott, Naveen Andrews, and Omar Sharif.
She currently serves as the host and one of the judges on the television show Top Chef, having joined in 2006 during its second season. Top Chef was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2007. Lakshmi was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 for Top Chef. The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2010. Lakshmi also serves as an executive producer of the show.
Merchandise
Lakshmi launched her first line of jewelry in 2009, titled "Padma". Lakshmi also has two tableware collections. The first, entitled "The Padma Collection," is a line of dinnerware composed of Moroccan ceramics and Turkish glass. The second is a line of more casual kitchenware called Easy Exotic. Under the Easy Exotic brand, Lakshmi also has a line of specialty spices and teas as well as a line of organic frozen rices.
Editorial writing
Lakshmi had a syndicated column in The New York Times and has written articles on style for the American edition of Vogue magazine, at Anna Wintour's request. She also wrote a column on style for Harper's Bazaar (in the UK and US), following a commission from editor Glenda Bailey.
Music video
In 2009, Lakshmi starred in the Eels music video for the song "That Look You Give That Guy," playing the love interest of Mark Oliver Everett.
Personal life
On April 17, 2004, after living together for three years, Lakshmi married novelist Salman Rushdie, who dedicated his novel Fury to her. On July 2, 2007, the couple filed for divorce. Lakshmi was in simultaneous relationships with venture capitalist Adam Dell and Teddy Forstmann (former chairman and CEO of IMG). Her daughter, Krishna was born February 20, 2010. Krishna's biological father is Dell. Krishna Thea Lakshmi-Dell is jointly raised by Lakshmi and Dell.
At age 36, Lakshmi was diagnosed with endometriosis, from which she has suffered since early adolescence. “I was told by my mother that this was just our lot in life, because I’m sure that’s what she was told by her mother,†[Lakshmi] says. “So I expected the pain, saw my mother go through it in fact, month in and month out." Lakshmi had two ovarian cysts removed when she was 30, but her doctor did not inform her that she had a chronic condition that needed to be monitored. In 2005, she was rushed to the hospital because of severe abdominal cramps. “It turned out that some endometrial tissue had wrapped itself around my small intestine like a tourniquet,†she recalls. “The gastroenterological surgeon who called this tissue ‘scar tissue[' ]said that he snipped it off and that I should be fine. Again, I was far from fine, and all of the symptoms I had came raging back with my next period.â€
Philanthropy
Lakshmi is a co-founder of The Endometriosis Foundation of America, which is a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness, education, research, and legislative advocacy against the disease. The foundation was instrumental in the opening of the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research, where Lakshmi gave the keynote address. Lakshmi is a global ambassador for Keep a Child Alive, and since 2007 has traveled to sites in India on their behalf. She is also a strong advocate of women's rights.
Selected filmography
See also
- Asian Indians in the New York City metropolitan region
References
External links
- Padma Lakshmi on IMDb
