Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity
cook
Cook or The Cook may refer to:
Food preparation
* Cooking, the preparation of food
* Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food
* Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry
* ...
,
restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...
, 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 in 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
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...
, on 28 December 1943 to working-class parents Sydney and Winnifred Floyd. He was brought up in a council house in the small town of Wiveliscombe in
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lor ...
. His family made financial sacrifices to enable him to be educated privately at Wellington School, Somerset.
Floyd became a cub reporter on the '' Bristol Evening Post''. He claimed, perhaps jokingly, that he decided to join the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
in 1963 after watching the film '' Zulu'', although the film was not released until 1964. He attained the rank of
Second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...
in the
Royal Tank Regiment
The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...
serving on
Centurion
A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...
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
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
: Floyd's Bistro in Princess Victoria Street in
Clifton
Clifton may refer to:
People
* Clifton (surname)
* Clifton (given name)
Places
Australia
*Clifton, Queensland, a town
** Shire of Clifton
*Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong
* Clifton, Western Australia
Canada
* Clifton, Nova Sc ...
, 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
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', ...
Vaucluse
Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.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
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
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
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...
'' claims that this happened after he personally guaranteed an order for £36,000 of drinks. He lived in
Kinsale
Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 ( ...
,
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
, Ireland for a time in the mid-1990s.
In April 2008 he travelled to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
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
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands o ...
. 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. His cooking shows were often marked by a tendency to consume wine during the preparation of the food.
A documentary ''Keith Meets Keith'', featuring actor and comedian Keith Allen interviewing Floyd, was broadcast on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
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 that away from the cameras, 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, later broadcast on
BBC Radio Bristol
BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving Bristol, Bath and North & North East Somerset.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Bristol.
According to RAJAR, the stati ...
to mark eleven years since his death.
Other television work
He was the subject of ''
This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to:
Television
* ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards
* ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...
'' in 1991 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel in The Brazen Head pub in Dublin.
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.
In 2006, he also appeared on the ITV show ''
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), an ...
'', demonstrating to the pair how to bake a cake for their Ant vs Dec challenge of cake decorating, resulting in Dec (Donnelly) winning the challenge.
Honours
Floyd had a bistro bar named after him in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
on the island of Koh Samui, Floyd's Beach Bistro Restaurant; Floyd visited it while filming the series ''Far Flung Floyd'' in Thailand and developed a close relationship with the family who owned the resort.
Personal life
All four of Floyd's marriages ended in divorce; he had a son and daughter.
Floyd spent many years in France. In 1974 he moved to
Vaucluse
Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.department, in the south-east of France, with Paddy Walker and her three young children. Together, they formed a company called Walker Floyd, buying wines in Vaucluse and then driving them back to Bristol to be sold to the city's bars and restaurants. They would then buy interesting, and carefully picked out, pieces of bric-a-brac to be driven back to Vaucluse for sale in the various markets. Paddy Walker and Floyd also ran a restaurant together in the village of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse. In his autobiography, Floyd notes Walker's influence on him: "My approach to food, my style if you like, had developed as a result of my life in France with Paddy." In 1979, after five years together, Walker and Floyd's relationship broke down and they returned to Britain.
In his last few years Floyd moved back to
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...
in the Vaucluse department.
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.
Illness and death
In October 2002 Floyd, a smoker and a heavy drinker, was reported to have suffered a mild 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. He suspected he had
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...
or
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alv ...
in early 2006, but was given the all-clear after a medical examination. In the summer of 2006 he was diagnosed as suffering from
malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues ...
.
In August 2007, he was hospitalised in Thailand after collapsing in a restaurant. He collapsed at a pub in
Chesterton, Staffordshire
Chesterton is a former mining village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England.
Chesterton is the second largest individual ward in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. In the 2011 census, Chesterton's population stoo ...
, on 29 January 2008 and was in a coma in hospital on a life-support machine. He was discharged on 22 February, travelling to his home in France to recuperate. He made a full recovery. On 14 September 2008, exactly a year before his death, he collapsed and was hospitalised for several days.
Floyd died of a heart attack, aged 65, on 14 September 2009, at the Dorset County Hospital in
Dorchester, Dorset
Dorchester ( ) is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route. A historic market town, Dorchester is on the banks of the River Frome to the south of the Dorset Downs and north of th ...
, after being taken ill at the home of his partner Celia Martin (née Constanduros).
The following day, chefs provided quotes for the media. Antony Worrall Thompson said of him: "I think all of us modern TV chefs owe a living to him. He kind of spawned us all." Marco Pierre White said that Floyd "inspired a nation". 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." Floyd's
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "human ...
funeral took place on 30 September 2009 in Bristol.