Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:21 am Post subject: Keith Floyd dies of heart attack, aged 65
Keith Floyd dies of heart attack, aged 65
TV chef Keith Floyd has died of a heart attack, aged 65.
Floyd was at his partner's home in Dorset when he collapsed last night, the ghost-writer of his autobiography James Steen said.
Tributes immediately started to flood in and within seconds, the news had filtered through on the microblog site Twitter where hundreds reacted immediately.
Chef Marco Pierre White said: 'It's a very sad day for both my industry and the nation.'
Floyd had recently revealed he was battling bowel cancer. He had five serious operations after being diagnosed earlier this year.
The chef, who lived in Avignon, France, had been having intensive chemotherapy to battle the disease.
During his stellar career, he appeared on numerous television shows on the BBC and Channel 5 including Floyd on France, Floyd Uncorked and Floyd on Italy.
He also wrote dozens of cookery books and opened a chain of restaurants across the world in Britain, Spain, France and Asia.
The chef had shot to fame in the 1980s when he presented a series of cookery shows with a glass of red wine in his hand.
Out of the public eye, he had a rocky personal life. He had been married and divorced four times and was declared bankrupt in 1996.
In 2002, he suffered a small stroke, and in November 2004 he was banned from driving for 32 months and fined £1500 after crashing his car into another vehicle while three-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit.
He collapsed in January 2008 and was admitted to hospital a month later and sent home to France to recuperate.
The chef admitted in an interview in 2007 that he had been ordered to give up drinking alcohol.
'I drink now in moderation,' he said. 'You're on the road. After the show, what do you do? There's no one to talk to, you've talked all night in fact, you've done all you possibly can - let's go and have a stiff one.'
Floyd, originally from Somerset, was educated at Wellington School before first becoming a journalist and then joining the army.
He decided to sign up after watching the war film Zulu and rose to Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment.
When he left the forces, he flitted between jobs as a barman, dishwasher and vegetable peeler to make a living.
He soon turned his hand to being a chef and was to build up a worldwide chain of restaurants.
His first cookery book - Floyd's Food - was published in 1981 and he was offered the chance to be a radio chef on a local station in Bristol.
His potential was spotted and the BBC invited him to become a television presenter, leading him to become one of the most iconic TV chefs.
He starred in programmes including Floyd on Fish, Far Flung Floyd, Floyd Around The Med, and the award-winning Floyd Uncorked.
The chef travelled across the globe, learning how to cook native dishes. In 2008, he visited Singapore and Thailand to expand his business there.
I had never heard of him, but he sounds like a male Julia Child Food, travel and getting sloshed are on the top of my list, so I would probably enjoy his show.
heres a clip of the show last night where keith allen meets keith floyd, giving his opinion on todays tv chefs. apparently floyd was just sitting down to watch it when he had the heart attack
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i watched a show with him just last night, keith ( allen ) meets keith ( floyd ). his cooking shows are still the greatest ever made 
Food, travel and getting sloshed are on the top of my list, so I would probably enjoy his show.