This is sad news, I really enjoyed this mans TV shows.

Keith Floyd, the flamboyant chef whose drinking and rows with his ex-wives were as legendary as his skills in the kitchen, has died of a heart attack. He was 65.

For 15 years he was one of the most recognisable faces on television, with a chain of cookery programmes whose titles mostly began with the phrase Floyd On… Each featured the bow tie-wearing chef raising plentiful glasses of red wine while sloshing ingredients into a pan and barking orders at his cameraman, Clive.

From Floyd On Fish in 1984 to Floyd’s India in 2001, he provided a globetrotting commentary on international cuisine.

Floyd, who revealed in July that he had bowel cancer, died at his partner’s home in Dorset last night, his ghost writer James Steen said.

The star, who was renowned for his drink-fuelled cookery shows, had been out celebrating confidante Celia Martin’s birthday yesterday before he fell ill.

Over a lunch of oysters, shrimp and partridge, Floyd supped Champagne cocktails, white and red wine.

They returned home and planned to watch a new documentary about Floyd’s life which included his emotional reconciliation with daughter Poppy, 26.
Floyd even ramarked: ‘I haven’t felt this well for ages,’ said Mrs Martin.

But as the pair were sitting on the sofa in the evening, he had a heart attack and slipped into unconsciousness.

Floyds last meal :

Hix Fix: Champagne with a cherry soaked in apple eau de vie – £11.50
Glass of white wine: Pouilly Vinzelles 2006 Burgundy – £49 a bottle
Red wine: Nature Perrin and Fils Cotes de Rhone 2007 – £21.50 a bottle

Oysters with potted shrimp and toast – £12.70
Red Legged partridge with bread sauce – £21.50
Perry Jelly – pear cider made into jelly – £6.50

Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity chef, television personality and 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.

Floyd was born at Folly Farm near Reading, Berkshire on 28 December 1943 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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. He lived in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland for a time in the mid-1990s.