When it comes to professional legacy acts there are few that can stand next to The Fabulous Moolah's, male or female. Hailing from Kershaw County, South Carolina, The Fabulous Moolah born, Mary Lillian Ellisor had a rather peculiar entry into the wrestling scene. At the tender age of just 14-years-old, Ellisor married 21-year-old Walter Caroll. At 15, Ellisor had a child and divorced Caroll and left her child with a friend to pursue a career in wrestling.
In 1949, Ellisor found herself in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and won the NWA World Women's Championship in 1956 and held the belt for a total of 28 years making her the longest holder of the belt in history. Over the course of the next 27 years, The Fabulous Moolah would become the first woman 'allowed' to wrestle in Madison Square Garden, Moolah later helped lift the ban from women wrestling the state of New York. From 1983 up until her death in 2007, Ellisor was a major contributor to the WWF/WWE ushering in new female talent and wrestling herself. The Fabulous Moolah is the first woman to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.