KEITH FLOYD

'Keith Floyd' (born December 28 1943) is a cook who has produced many cooking shows for the BBC and Channel 5, and has published many books combining cookery and travel.

Contents

Early life

Career

Cookery shows

Bibliography

Audio clip

External links

Early life

After being educated at Wellington School, Somerset, Keith Floyd became a journalist in Bristol and after watching the film Zulu decided to join the British army attaining the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Royal Tank Regiment. After leaving the army, Floyd found employment in several catering-related jobs including barman, dishwasher and vegetable peeler.

Career

His taste for wine and fine food developed and by 1971 he had acquired three restaurants in 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. 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 in Redland in Bristol. Unable to use his name, Floyd, which he had sold, the establishment had a sign saying simply "Restaurant".
The restaurant in Chandos Road, near the BBC Television Centre, was frequented by actors and other TV related people. Floyd's first cookery book, ''Floyd's Food'', published before he became a TV celebrity, had an introduction written by Leonard Rossiter, the star of the TV show ''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. When he was offered a role as a presenter on BBC television, he rapidly gained popularity, and became famous as a TV chef.
Despite TV success, Floyd continued to have financial problems and personal conflicts. 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.
Floyd has traveled widely to cook local dishes and entertain people around the world. His cooking shows are marked by a tendency to consume much wine during the preparation of the food.
Keith Floyd is a big fan of rock group The Stranglers - the tracks "Waltzinblack" and an edited version of "Peaches" were used as theme music for most of his TV programmes. Former Stranglers guitarist/vocalist Hugh Cornwell used to play guitar at Keith's restaurant during his student days in Bristol and the two have remained friends since.

Cookery shows

★ ''Floyd on Fish'' (2 October 1984)

★ ''Floyd on Fish'' (7 programs, 23 July 1985 - 27 August 1985)

★ ''Floyd on Food'' (6 programs, 16 May 1986 - 27 June 1986)

★ ''Floyd on France'' (7 programs, 1 September 1987 - 20 October 1987)

★ ''Floyd on Britain'' and Ireland'' (9 programs, 30 August 1988 - 1 November 1988)

★ ''Floyd's American Pie'' (6 programs, 1 October 1989 - 8 November 1989)

★ ''Floyd on Oz'' (9 programs, 11 April 1991 - 6 June 1991)

★ ''Floyd on Spain'' (7 programs, 18 August 1992 - 29 September 1992)

★ ''Far Flung Floyd'' (7 programs, 13 July 1993 - 24 August 1993)

★ ''Floyd on Italy'' (7 programs, 12 July 1994 - 23 August 1994)

★ ''Floyd on Africa'' (7 programs, 1996/04 - 1996/05)

★ ''Best Of Floyd'' (7 programs, 1997)

★ ''Floyd Uncorked'' (8 programs, 2 November 1998 - 21 December 1998)

★ ''Floyd on GMTV'' (ITV, 12 programs, 16 November 1998 - 24 December 1998)

★ ''Floyd's Fjord Fiesta'' (7 programs, December 2001)

★ ''Floyd Around the Med'' (9 programs, 5 January 2000)

★ ''Capital Floyd'' (7 programs, 4 December 2000)

★ ''Floyd's India'' (8 programs, 29 October 2001 - 17 December 2001)
News just in:
TV chef makes meal of parking ticket
A celebrity chef had a parking ticket slapped on his Mercedes during a recent trip to Durham City.
And it looks like Keith Floyd is making a meal of the £30 fixed penalty notice because it is being contested.
Mr Floyd, 63, was in Durham for a performance of his Floyd Uncorked show at the Gala Theatre.
A parking patrol spotted the Mercedes in Lambton Street on Saturday afternoon.
As part of the usual procedure, the patrol took several digital photographs of the car before writing out the ticket.
A short
while later Mr Floyd and his driver turned up at the National Car Parks (NCP) Parking Shop in North Road.
The pair left after a short discussion with staff saying the ticket would not be paid and would be challenged.
The patrol would not have known who the owner of the car was when the ticket was issued and NCP staff are confident it was issued correctly.
Parking in Durham City is administered by NCP on behalf of Durham County Council.
The two organisations will carry out a joint review of ticket and then write to Mr Floyd to let him know their decision.
He recently made headlines when he collapsed in his restaurant in Thailand.
Doctors ordered him to take three months rest last year after he was diagnosed with exhaustion and a stomach ulcer.
Mr Floyd has written more than 25 books and starred in 20 television series which have been shown in more than 40 countries.

Bibliography

★ ''Floyd's Food'' (1981)

★ ''Floyd on Fish'' (1985)

★ ''Floyd on Fire: Cooking Outdoors'' (1986)

★ ''Floyd on France: Learn to Cook the Keith Floyd'' (1987)

★ ''Floyd on Britain and Ireland'' (1988)

★ ''Floyd in the Soup'' (1988)

★ ''A Feast of Floyd'' (1989)

★ ''Floyd's American Pie'' (1989)

★ ''Floyd on Oz'' (1991)

★ ''Floyd on Hangovers'' (1993)

★ ''A Pinch of Rosemary'' (1993)

★ ''Floyd on France'' (1993)

★ ''Floyd on Spain/Keith Floyd's Guide to Spanish Cooking'' (1993)

★ ''Far Flung Floyd: Keith Floyd's Guide to Southeast-Asia Cooking'' (1994)

★ ''Floyd on Fire: Barbecue the Floyd Way'' (1994)

★ ''Floyd on Italy'' (1995)

★ ''Hot and Spicy Floyd'' (1996)

★ ''Floyd on Africa'' (1996)

★ ''Cognac Cookery'' (1996)

★ ''Keith Floyd Cooks Barbies'' (1997)

★ ''The Best of Floyd'' (1997)

★ ''Floyd Uncorked'' (1998)

★ ''Floyds Fjord Fiesta'' (1998)

★ ''Out of the Frying Pan: Scenes from My Life '' (2000)

★ ''Floyd Around the Med'' (2000)

★ ''Flash Floyd'' (2002)

★ ''Floyd's India'' (2003)

★ ''100 Great Curries'' (2004)

★ ''Floyd's Great Curries'' (2004)

★ ''Floyd's China'' (2005)

★ ''Floyd's Thai Food'' (2006)

★ ''A Splash and a Dash: Cooking with Keith Floyd'' (2006)

Audio clip

This is a clip of the theme music used for a number of Keith Floyd's cookery shows:

External links

★ Official Website

★ Keith's Blog

★ BBC's Recipes Page