Keith Floyd

Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity cook, restaurateur, television personality and "gastronaut" who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel. On television, his eccentric style of presentation – usually drinking wine as he cooked and talking to his crew – endeared him to millions of viewers worldwide.

Early life

Floyd was born at Folly Farm, Sulhamstead,Paul Levy, "Floyd, Keith
(1943–2009)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Jan 201
available online
Retrieved 5 September 2020. near Reading, Berkshire, on 28 December 1943 to Sydney Albert Floyd (1915–1985) and Winifred Phyllis Lorraine, née Margetts. His father, from a working-class background in Solihull, West Midlands, studied electro-engineering at college until the outbreak of the Second World War, when he joined the Royal Corps of Signals; unable to continue his studies, he became (by his son's recollection) "a tailor or something of that sort", then a meter repairman for the electricity board, going on to work at the Fawley oil refinery on Southampton Water. He was also a lay preacher. Floyd was brought up in a council house in the small town of Wiveliscombe in Somerset, where his mother grew up; he referred to his upbringing as "a very happy rural childhood". His family made financial sacrifices to enable him to be educated privately at Wellington School, Somerset; popular and a good rugby player, he was forced to leave at 16 due to lack of money.

Floyd became a cub reporter on the ''Bristol Evening Post''. He claimed, perhaps jokingly, that he decided to join the British Army in 1963 after watching the film '' Zulu'', although the film was not released until 1964. Having turned down the 11th Hussars he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the "less snooty" Royal Tank Regiment serving on Centurion tanks, where he pestered the mess cook to produce gourmet dinners.

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.

Career

By 1971 Floyd had acquired three restaurants in Bristol: Floyd's Bistro in Princess Victoria Street in Clifton, Floyd's Restaurant in Alma Vale Road and Keith Floyd's Restaurant in Chandos Road, Redland.
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 Britain. With the help of loans from friends, he opened another restaurant, again in Chandos Road.

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. Floyd never described himself as a chef since he was untrained.

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, cooking on location in his unique chaotic style.

He bought and ran the Maltsters Arms in Tuckenhay, Devon in the late 1980s. When Floyd 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. 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. This was his first Asian restaurant and Phuket's first ever celebrity chef restaurant, drawing a large following of Floyd fans who remembered his many TV series and cookbooks.

Floyd travelled widely to cook local dishes and entertain people around the world.

A documentary ''Keith Meets Keith'', 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 was severely critical of modern television chefs for promoting themselves more than the food. Floyd admitted away from the cameras that he often drank too much out of loneliness. It later emerged that Floyd had collapsed and died a few hours before the broadcast.

In 2020, Floyd was the subject of 'Keith Floyd's Bristol', a documentary presented by Xander Brett. It was produced by Burst Radio

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