# Mary Berry
**Mary Berry** (Mary-Rosa Alleyne Berry, born 24 March 1935 in [Bath, Somerset](https://www.edgepedia.org/bath-somerset)) is an English food writer and television presenter, known above all as a judge on *The Great British Bake Off* and as the author of more than 70 cookery books.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/) • [2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/82647/mary-berry/) Trained at [Le Cordon Bleu](https://www.edgepedia.org/le-cordon-bleu) in Paris, she has worked as a magazine cookery editor, cookbook author, and broadcaster since the 1960s, and has been described as the doyenne of baking.[3](https://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/mary-berry)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 March 1935, Bath, Somerset, England; birth name Mary-Rosa Alleyne Berry[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/) |
| Training | Le Cordon Bleu, Paris, and the Bath School of Home Economics[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) |
| Bake Off judge | *The Great British Bake Off*, *Junior Bake Off*, *Comic Relief Bake Off* and *Sports Relief Bake Off*, 2009 to 2016 by her own site's account[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) |
| Books | More than 70 cookery books, including *Mary Berry's Baking Bible* and *Mary Berry Cooks*; her site counts over 80[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/82647/mary-berry/) • [4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) |
| Honours | CBE in the 2012 Birthday Honours; Dame Commander (DBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/) |
| Family | Married antiques dealer Paul John March Hunnings on 3 April 1966; three children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/) |
| Recent work | *Mary 90 – My Very Best Recipes* and the BBC series *Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking*, published for her 90th birthday in 2025[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/mary-berry-90-recipes-bbc-show-book-my-very-best-b2842484.html) |
## Early life and training
Berry learned to bake from her mother before training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. The two published accounts of when this happened differ: PBS's biography says she went to Paris "at the age of just 17", while a 2013 Guardian interview states she trained at Le Cordon Bleu Paris at 21.[3](https://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/mary-berry) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/30/mary-berry-interview) She also trained at the Bath School of Home Economics.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry)
In the 1960s she became the cookery editor of *Housewife* magazine and then of *Ideal Home* magazine.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) Her first book, *The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook*, appeared in 1970.[7](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34511840-mary-berry-s-complete-cookbook)
## Television career
**Early broadcasting.** Her first television series, *Afternoon Plus* with [Judith Chalmers](https://www.edgepedia.org/judith-chalmers), was broadcast in the early 1970s, and through the 1980s she wrote books and filmed television series for the BBC from her home in [Buckinghamshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/buckinghamshire).[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) In 1971 she began appearing in slots on shows such as *Collector's World* and *Good Afternoon*, teaching viewers how to use then-new equipment like freezers and tinfoil.[8](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mary-berry/id261779636?i=1000742135987)
**The Great British Bake Off.** Berry became a household name as a judge on *The Great British Bake Off* alongside [Paul Hollywood](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-hollywood). Her own website dates her judging of *Bake Off* and its charity and junior variants from 2009 to 2016,[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) while other accounts give 2010 to 2016 for the main series.[9](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-mary-at-90-a-lifetime-of-cooking) In 2016, when the production company Love Productions moved the show from the BBC to [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4), Berry left the program along with presenters [Mel Giedroyc](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-giedroyc) and Sue Perkins; Hollywood stayed.[10](https://time.com/4547387/great-british-bake-off-like-brexit/) She was succeeded as judge by Prue Leith in 2017, who consulted Berry before taking the job.[11](https://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/people/dame-prue-leith-i-wont-say-we-were-rolling-drunk-but-we-were-definitely-tight)
The show's reach extended to supermarket shelves. In 2014, after an episode in which contestants baked Berry's cherry cake, Waitrose reported a 25 percent lift in sales of glacé cherries, a 22 percent rise in cake tins, and a 14 percent increase in piping bags; the series opener drew more than 7.2 million viewers, up from 5.6 million the previous year.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/15/mary-berry-supermarket-sales-great-british-bake-off-effect)
**Later programs.** From 2014 Berry has had her own cooking shows on BBC1 and BBC2, including *Mary Berry Cooks*, *Foolproof Cooking*, *Mary Berry's Quick Cooking*, *Simple Comforts*, *Love to Cook*, *Mary Makes it Easy*, and *Mary's Foolproof Dinners*. From 2018 to 2021 she was a judge on the BBC1 competition *Best Home Cook*, and in 2019 she presented the BBC special *A Very Royal Christmas* with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. She judged and presented *The Jubilee Pudding: 70 Years in the Baking* with [Queen Camilla](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-camilla) in 2022 and *The Coronation Dish* for King Charles's coronation in 2023.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) In 2025 she marked her 90th birthday with the cookbook *Mary 90 – My Very Best Recipes* and the BBC series *Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking*.[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/mary-berry-90-recipes-bbc-show-book-my-very-best-b2842484.html)
## Books and teaching
Berry has published more than 70 cookery books, a figure her own website puts at over 80, and continues to write a book each year to accompany her BBC series.[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/82647/mary-berry/) • [4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) By 2012 her books had sold around six million copies worldwide.[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/my-life-in-food-mary-berry-7574487.html) Best-known titles include *Mary Berry's Baking Bible*, *Mary Berry Cooks*, *Simple Comforts*, and *Mary 90*.[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/82647/mary-berry/) She writes with Lucy Young, her assistant of more than thirty-five years, and published her autobiography, *Recipe for Life*, in 2013.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry)
Her teaching has not been confined to print and television. In the early 1990s she launched the Aga Workshops, a cookery school run from her home, which received over twelve thousand visitors across sixteen years. In the mid-1990s her daughter Annabel launched Mary Berry's Salad Dressing, a company that has since been sold.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry)
Her stated mission is to get everyone baking and cooking at home, and her recipes are aimed at practical family cooking with fresh ingredients.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) • [3](https://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/mary-berry)
## Honours and recognition
Berry was appointed [Commander](https://www.edgepedia.org/commander) of the [Order of the British Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/order-of-the-british-empire) (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to the culinary arts, and Dame Commander (DBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting, the culinary arts, and charity.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/) She received the Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, the National Television Award for Best TV Judge in 2017, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women in Film & Television Awards in 2024; she is scheduled to receive the BAFTA Fellowship at the 2026 BAFTA Television Awards.[4](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry) • [14](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/mary-berry-special-honour-bafta-television-awards/)
## Personal life
Berry married Paul John March Hunnings, an antiques dealer, on 3 April 1966; the couple have three children. Her son William died in a car accident at the age of 19.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/30/mary-berry-interview) She lives in [Henley-on-Thames](https://www.edgepedia.org/henley-on-thames), Oxfordshire, where gardening has been a passion since childhood; in 2026 she published her first gardening book, *My Gardening Life*.[15](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/mary-berry-natural-health-cure/)
## References
1. [Mary Berry Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2915364/bio/)
2. [Mary Berry, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/82647/mary-berry/)
3. [Biography of Mary Berry, PBS Food](https://www.pbs.org/food/chefs/mary-berry)
4. [About Mary Berry, maryberry.co.uk](https://www.maryberry.co.uk/about-mary-berry)
5. [Mary Berry at 90: Three timeless recipes from a lifetime of cooking, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/mary-berry-90-recipes-bbc-show-book-my-very-best-b2842484.html)
6. [Q&A: Mary Berry, The Guardian (30 November 2013)](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/30/mary-berry-interview)
7. [Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34511840-mary-berry-s-complete-cookbook)
8. [Mary Berry – Profile, Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/mary-berry/id261779636?i=1000742135987)
9. [How to watch 'Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking', Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-mary-at-90-a-lifetime-of-cooking)
10. [Why The Great British Bake Off Is Like Brexit, TIME](https://time.com/4547387/great-british-bake-off-like-brexit/)
11. [Dame Prue Leith interview, Country Life](https://www.countrylife.co.uk/culture/people/dame-prue-leith-i-wont-say-we-were-rolling-drunk-but-we-were-definitely-tight)
12. [Mary Berry's cherries raise supermarket sales as 'Bake-Off effect' takes hold, The Guardian (15 August 2014)](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/15/mary-berry-supermarket-sales-great-british-bake-off-effect)
13. [My Life in Food: Mary Berry, The Independent (15 March 2012)](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/my-life-in-food-mary-berry-7574487.html)
14. [Dame Mary Berry to receive BAFTA Fellowship, Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/mary-berry-special-honour-bafta-television-awards/)
15. [Mary Berry shares the 'natural health cure' that's part of her routine, Woman & Home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/mary-berry-natural-health-cure/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Food, cooking and hospitality › Food media, writing, and celebrity food culture › Food writing, criticism, and cookbooks › British and Irish food writers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license