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Keith Floyd

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Keith Floyd
Floyd in 2000
Born(1943-12-28)28 December 1943
Reading, Berkshire,
England, United Kingdom[1]
Died14 September 2009(2009-09-14) (aged 65)[2]
Bridport, Dorset, England,
United Kingdom
Cause of deathHeart attack
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Celebrity chef, television personality, businessman, restaurateur, author
Years active1984–2009
Spouse(s)Julier Hatcher (?–?)
(divorced)
Shaunagh Mullet (1991–94) (divorced)
Jesmond Ruttledge (?–?)
(divorced)
Theresa Smith (1995–2008) (divorced)
WebsiteOfficial website

Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity chef, television personality, businessman, who hosted numerous cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel. On television, his eccentric style of presentation endeared him to millions of viewers worldwide.

Early life

Floyd was born at Folly Farm near Reading, Berkshire on 28 December 1943[3] to working-class parents Sydney and Winnifred Floyd. He was brought up in a council house in the village of Wiveliscombe in Somerset. His family made financial sacrifices to enable him to be educated privately at Wellington School, Somerset.[1]

Floyd became a cub reporter on the Bristol Evening Post and after watching the film Zulu decided to join the British Army, attaining the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment, where he pestered the mess cook to produce gourmet dinners.[1][4]

After three years, finding that he and the Army were "mutually incompatible", Floyd found employment in several catering-related jobs including barman, dishwasher and vegetable peeler.[5]

Career

By 1971 he had acquired three restaurants in Bristol, Floyd's Bistro in Princess Victoria Street in Clifton, Floyd's Restaurant in Alma Vale Road, and Floyd's Chop House in Chandos Road, Redland, Bristol.[1] However all three restaurants had financial problems. Floyd sold the restaurants and the rights to the name "Floyd's Restaurant" and moved to the south of France, where again he opened a restaurant in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse. After this again ended in financial problems, he moved back to England. With the help of loans from friends, he opened another restaurant in Chandos Road but, unable to use his own name, which he had sold, the establishment had a sign saying simply "Restaurant".

The restaurant in Chandos Road was frequented by actors and others connected with television. Floyd's first cookery book, Floyd's Food, published before he became a TV celebrity, had an introduction written by Leonard Rossiter, star of British TV sitcoms Rising Damp and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Floyd's first foray into the world of show business was as a radio chef on Radio West, an independent commercial radio station in Bristol. TV producer David Pritchard then offered him a slot on BBC West regional magazine show RPM, presented by Andy Batten Foster. That led, in 1984, to his being offered his first BBC TV series Floyd on Fish, which started his rapid rise to national popularity.

His eccentric, often shambolic style of presentation endeared him to millions of viewers worldwide.[6]

He became well known for cooking with a glass of wine in one hand, often in unusual locations such as a fishing boat in rough seas. He was regarded as a pioneer of taking cooking programmes out of the studio. The chef went on to present his shows from around the world, including France, Spain, Italy, India, Australia and the US, cooking on location in his unique chaotic style.[7]

He bought and ran the Maltsters Arms in Tuckenhay, Devon in the late 1980s. When he was not running the kitchen, chefs included Jean Christophe Novelli. He was more often seen at the bar than in the kitchen. The failure of the Maltsters led to his bankruptcy.

Despite TV success, Floyd continued to have financial problems and personal conflicts. He was declared bankrupt in 1996. The Daily Mirror claims that this happened after he personally guaranteed an order for £36,000 of drinks.[8] He lived in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland for a time in the mid-1990s.

In April 2008 he travelled to Singapore and Thailand in pursuit of new business ventures in Southeast Asia. Until his death he was actively involved in his restaurant Floyd’s Brasserie, located at the Burasari Resort on the popular Thai island of Phuket.[4] This was his first Asian restaurant and Phuket’s first ever celebrity chef restaurant, drawing a large following of Floyd fans who remember his many TV series and cookbooks.

Floyd travelled widely to cook local dishes and entertain people around the world. His cooking shows were marked by a tendency to consume too much wine during the preparation of the food.[4]

A documentary Keith Meets Keith,[9] featuring actor and comedian Keith Allen interviewing Floyd, was broadcast on Channel 4 on 14 September 2009 and watched by nearly one million people. In the programme, Floyd admitted that away from the cameras, he often drank too much out of loneliness. It later emerged that Floyd had collapsed and died shortly before the broadcast.

Other television work

Floyd can also be seen in a number of episodes of the children's television series Balamory, as a chef in Suzie Sweet's "Suzie's Cooking" song.[5]

In 2006, he also appeared on the award-winning ITV show Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, demonstrating to the boys how to bake a cake for their Ant vs Dec challenge of cake decorating, resulting in Dec (Donnelly) winning the challenge.[10]

Honours

Floyd had a bistro bar named after him on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand (Floyd's Beach Bistro Restaurant).[11] The resort is within The Tong Sai Bay Hotel and is among the most exotic of those on the island. Floyd visited it while filming the series Far Flung Floyd in Thailand and developed a close relationship with the family who owned the resort.[12]

Personal life

All four of Floyd's marriages ended in divorce; he had a son and daughter:[13]

  1. Jesmond Ruttledge – son Patrick (born 12 November 1968)
  2. Julie Hatcher (married 1983) – daughter Poppy (born shortly after Christmas 1983)
  3. Shauna Mullett (married 1991 in Torbay, Devon; divorced 1994)
  4. Teresa Mary Smith (married 1995 in Wallingford, Oxfordshire; divorced 2008).[14]

Floyd spent many years in France. In his last few years he lived in Avignon in the Vaucluse department of south-eastern France.[4]

Floyd was a big fan of rock group The Stranglers: the tracks "Waltzinblack", an edited version of "Peaches", and an instrumental version of "Viva Vlad" were used as theme music for most of his TV programmes.[4] Former Stranglers guitarist and vocalist Hugh Cornwell used to play guitar at Floyd's restaurant during his student days in Bristol and the two remained friends. In his book Floyd's Cockney Cuisine, Floyd also claimed to be a huge fan of 1980's punk/indie act Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine.

Illness and death

In 2002 Floyd, a smoker and heavy drinker, was reported to have suffered a small stroke, although he denied this in his autobiography. In November 2004 he was banned from driving for 32 months and fined £1,500 after crashing his car into another vehicle while three-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit.[15] In 2006 he was diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition.[16] He collapsed at a pub in Chesterton, Staffordshire on 29 January 2008 and was admitted to hospital. He was released on 22 February, travelling to his home in France to recuperate.[17] He made a full recovery and was back on his feet shortly afterwards. On 14 September 2008, exactly a year before his death, he fell out of bed and concussed himself. Paramedics spent three hours reviviving him and he was hospitalised for several days. On 29 July 2009 it was reported that Floyd had been diagnosed with bowel cancer in mid-June. He underwent five serious operations, which removed 90% of the cancer; he subsequently underwent a course of chemotherapy at Nîmes Hospital. Ironically, despite his illness and heavy drinking, his liver was working at 100% capacity.[18] Floyd died of a heart attack, aged 65, on Monday 14 September 2009,[2] at the Bridport, Dorset[19] home of his partner Celia Martin (née Constanduros,[20] born 1944, widow of screenwriter Dave Martin).[21] The following day, chefs provided quotes for the media. Anthony Worral Thompson said of him: "I think all of us modern TV chefs owe a living to him. He kind of spawned us all."[22] Marco Pierre White, told BBC radio Floyd "inspired a nation". Pierre White also said, "The thing which is very sad is a little piece of Britain today died which will never be replaced. He was a beautiful man, his ability to inspire people to cook just with his words and the way he did things was extraordinary. If you look at TV chefs today they don't have his magic. It's a very, very, very sad day for my industry and secondly for a nation.".[23] This despite, in Keith Meets Keith, Floyd severely criticising modern television chefs for promoting themselves more than the food.[9] Floyd's humanist funeral took place on 30 September 2009 in Bristol.[24]

Cookery shows

  • Floyd on Fish (2 October 1984)
  • Floyd on a Pub Run (7 programmes, 23 July 1985 – 27 August 1985)
  • Floyd on Food (6 programmes, 16 May 1986 – 27 June 1986)
  • Floyd on France (7 programmes, 1 September 1987 – 20 October 1987)
  • Floyd on Britain and Ireland (9 programmes, 30 August 1988 – 1 November 1988)
  • Floyd's American Pie (6 programmes, 1 October 1989 – 8 November 1989)
  • Floyd on Oz (9 programmes, 11 April 1991 – 6 June 1991)
  • Floyd on Spain (7 programmes, 18 August 1992 – 29 September 1992)
  • Far Flung Floyd (7 programmes, 13 July 1993 – 24 August 1993)
  • Floyd on Italy (7 programmes, 12 July 1994 – 23 August 1994)
  • Floyd on Africa (7 programmes, April 1996 – May 1996)
  • Best of Floyd (7 programmes, 1997)
  • Floyd Uncorked (8 programmes, 2 November 1998 – 21 December 1998)
  • Floyd on GMTV (ITV, 12 programmes, 16 November 1998 – 24 December 1998)
  • Floyd Around the Med (9 programmes, 5 January 2000)
  • Capital Floyd (7 programmes, 4 December 2000)
  • Floyd's India (8 programmes, 29 October 2001 – 17 December 2001)
  • Floyd's Fjord Fiesta (7 programmes, December 2001)

Floyd on TV

  • Floyd on Africa (Showing on Travel Channel 1230 UK Time)

Bibliography

  • Floyd's Food (1981)
  • Floyd on Fish (1985)
  • Floyd on Fire: Cooking Outdoors (1986)
  • Floyd on France: Learn to Cook the Keith Floyd (1987)
  • Floyd on Britain and Ireland (1988)
  • Floyd in the Soup (1988)
  • A Feast of Floyd (1989)
  • Floyd's American Pie (1989)
  • Floyd on Oz (1991)
  • Floyd on Hangovers (1993)
  • A Pinch of Rosemary (1993)
  • Floyd on France (1993)
  • Floyd on Spain/Keith Floyd's Guide to Spanish Cooking (1993)
  • Far Flung Floyd: Keith Floyd's Guide to Southeast-Asia Cooking (1994)
  • Floyd on Fire: Barbecue the Floyd Way (1994)
  • Floyd on Italy (1995)
  • Hot and Spicy Floyd (1996)
  • Floyd on Africa (1996)
  • Cognac Cookery (1996)
  • Keith Floyd Cooks Barbies (1997)
  • The Best of Floyd (1997)
  • Floyd Uncorked (1998)
  • Floyd on Fibre (1999)
  • Floyds Fjord Fiesta (1998)
  • Out of the Frying Pan: Scenes from My Life (2000)
  • Floyd Around the Med (2000)
  • Flash Floyd (2002)
  • Floyd's India (2003)
  • 100 Great Curries (2004)
  • Floyd's Great Curries (2004)
  • Floyd's China (2005)
  • Floyd's Thai Food (2006)
  • A Splash and a Dash: Cooking with Keith Floyd (2006)
  • Stirred But Not Shaken: The Autobiography (2009)

References

  1. ^ a b c d "TV chef Keith Floyd dies from heart attack". Bristol Evening Post. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  2. ^ a b Booth, Jenny (15 September 2009). "Flamboyant TV chef Keith Floyd dies of heart attack". The Times. London. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  3. ^ http://web.researcha.com/iccquery/detail/?did=7564398&c=uk
  4. ^ a b c d e Rushton, Susie (11 October 2007). "Floyd uncorked: A vintage encounter with TV's booziest". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  5. ^ a b Churchill, Carolyn (15 September 2009). "Chefs pay tribute to 'mischievous and inspirational' cook Keith Floyd". The Herald Scotland. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  6. ^ "Tributes to TV chef Keith Floyd". BBC News. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  7. ^ "In Pictures: Keith Floyd". BBC News. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  8. ^ Mansey, Kate (3 June 2007). "Floyd chefs off". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  9. ^ a b "Keith Meets Keith". Channel 4. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  10. ^ Moncrieff, Chris (15 September 2009). "Celebrity chef Keith Floyd dies aged 65". The Independent. London. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  11. ^ "Floyd's Beach Bistro Restaurant". zibb.com. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  12. ^ "Tongsai Bay hotel Koh Samui Island". asiarooms.com. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  13. ^ Sims, Paul (22 April 2006). "Mystery illness hits Keith Floyd". Daily Mail. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  14. ^ "Marriages England and Wales 1984–2005". findmypast.com (Subscription required). Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  15. ^ "TV chef banned for drink-driving". BBC News. 23 November 2004. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  16. ^ Taylor, Jerome; Sharp, Rob (15 September 2009). "Cocktails and a slurp or two – Keith Floyd's final day". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  17. ^ "Chef Floyd recuperates in France". BBC News. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  18. ^ "Keith Floyd reveals battle against bowel cancer". Daily Mail. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  19. ^ Gerryts, Rene (17 September 2009). "Bridport partner of TV chef Keith Floyd in shock at his sudden death". The Bridport News. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  20. ^ Farquhar, Simon (3 July 2007). "Dave Martin (Obituary)". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  21. ^ Floyd, Keith (23 September 2009). "Keith Floyd: Wives, wine, women and fame... my recipe for self-destruction". Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  22. ^ "Celebrity chef Keith Floyd dies". BBC News. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
  23. ^ Celebrity chef dies of heart attack – The Sydney Morning Herald (via smh.com.au), 16 September 2009
  24. ^ "Keith Floyd funeral in Bristol]". thisisbristol.co.uk. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.

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