Anthony Bourdain

American celebrity chef, author, travel documentarian, and television personality who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. He first became known for his bestselling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000). His first food and world-travel television show, A Cook's Tour, ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, he began hosting the Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure programs Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (2005–2012) and The Layover (2011–2013). In 2013, he began a three-season run as a judge on The Taste, and concurrently switched his travelogue programming to CNN to host Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. He was considered one of the most influential chefs in the world. Bourdain married his high school girlfriend, Nancy Putkoski, in 1985, and they remained together for two decades, divorcing in 2005. On April 20, 2007, he married Ottavia Busia, a mixed martial artist. The couple's daughter, Ariane, was born in 2007. Bourdain noted that having to be away from his wife and child for about 250 days a year working on his television shows became a strain. Busia appeared in several episodes of No Reservations—notably the ones in Sardinia (her birthplace), Tuscany (in which she plays a disgruntled Italian diner), Rome, Rio de Janeiro, and Naples. The couple separated in 2016. In 2017, Bourdain began dating the Italian actress Asia Argento, whom he met when she appeared on the Rome episode of Parts Unknown. On 8 June 2018, Bourdain was found dead of an apparent suicide by hanging in his room at Le Chambard hotel in Kaysersberg, France. The public prosecutor for Colmar said that Bourdain's body bore no signs of violence, that toxicology tests would determine whether drugs or medications were involved, but that the suicide appeared to be an "impulsive act." He later disclosed that Bourdain's toxicology results were negative for narcotics, showing only a trace of a therapeutic nonnarcotic medication. Link to Wikipedia biography Link to Astrodienst discussion forum