In the days leading up to his death, Anthony Bourdain was reportedly in a very dark place.
His friends and family were deeply concerned for him as his mood was about as low as it
could get.
Sadly on the 8th of June, 2018, Bourdain committed suicide while filming Parts Unknown on location
in France.
In the wake of his death, Bourdain's loved ones, companions, and fans have tried their
best to piece together what Anthony's final days were really like.
Whenever someone takes their own life, that tragedy raises many questions.
Some of these questions, we'll unfortunately never get answers to, but others are a bit
easier to decipher.
Within the weeks and months prior to his passing, Bourdain evidently expressed a great deal
of disdain for being famous.
He seemed to reach a point where all of the fame and fortune in the world wasn't enough
to make him feel fulfilled and happy.
It also looked like his personal relationships were crumbling all around him.
If he could have traded his wealth and celebrity for the opportunity to lead out a "normal"
life, Anthony would likely have jumped at that chance in a heartbeat.
Bourdain's life started out looking very promising.
He was born in Manhattan in 1956.
As a child, he never wanted for love and attention as his parents, Pierre and Gladys Bourdain
never once seemed to neglect to shower him with affection.
Neither parent drank in excess, nor were they abusive in any way.
Bourdain's father worked as a salesman in a New York City camera shop and as a floor
manager at a record store.
He later found a high-paying job as an executive at Columbia Records.
Anthony's mother, Gladys, was a staff editor at The New York Times.
So, clearly, the Bourdains were never hurting for money.
Bourdain spent much of his childhood in Leonia, New Jersey.
And much like thousands of other kids that grew up in his generation, he was a proud
member of the Boy Scouts of America.
All things considered, Anthony had a very easygoing upbringing.
So, how did he rise to fame, and what led him to eventually resent his fans and celebrity
status?
Join Facts Verse as we discuss how Anthony Bourdain complained about fame in his final
days.
Culinary Training And Early Success
Anthony Bourdain developed a deep love for food in his youth, taking family vacations
In France.
It was there that he tried his first oyster from a fisherman's boat.
After graduating from Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1973, Anthony
briefly enrolled at Vassar College but ended up dropping out.
While he was still attending school, however, he worked at seafood restaurants in Provincetown,
Massachusetts.
Bourdain then enrolled at The Culinary Institute of America.
After graduating in 1978, he went on to run several kitchens in New York City, including
Sullivan's, The Supper Club, and One Fifth Avenue.
In 1998, Anthony became an executive chef at the renowned Brasserie Les Halles.
The restaurant was based in Manhattan but had several other locations in DC, Tokyo,
and Miami.
He worked there for many years as an executive chef, and even after he was no longer employed
there, he maintained a cordial relationship with the establishment and its management
team.
In the mid-80s, Bourdain had a piece that he had written about a chef trying to score
Heroin in the Lower East Side published in the literary magazine Between C &D.
He then signed up for a writing workshop with Gordon Lish.
This led to him receiving a small book advance from Random House in 1990.
He published his first book, a culinary mystery entitled Bone in the Throat, in 1995.
To promote his book, Bourdain paid for his own book tour but failed to find success.
His second mystery book, Gone Bamboo, likewise failed to sell well.
Undeterred, Bourdain would go on to publish several other books, including the critically
acclaimed and best-selling Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.
He went on pen Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook,
The Nasty Bits, and Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical.
As he continued to publish books, Bourdain became more and more well-known throughout
the literary and culinary community.
His writing's sales numbers likewise continued to increase as he gained more and more recognition.
In 2002, Bourdain landed his first television series hosting gig with his first show, A
Cook's Tour.
The show ran for 35 episodes on the Food Network through 2003.
He followed that up with his second show No Reservations, which premiered on the Travel
Channel in 2005 and ran until 2012.
This would prove to be one of the most popular television series of his TV career.
From 2011 to 2013, Bourdain hosted The Layover, which also aired on the Travel Channel.
Each episode of this series featured an exploration of a city that can be undertaken within a
24 to 48-hour layover period.
Bourdain's final television series, Parts Unknown premiered on CNN in 2012 and aired
until his death in 2018.
it was during this time that Bourdain expressed frustration with the Travel Channels' treatment
of him in the previous years.
He felt as if the network had used his voice and image to make it seem as if he was endorsing
a vehicle brand.
He never wanted to be seen as a gimmicky salesman, and he deeply resented the fact that those
that were pulling the strings behind the scenes didn't seem to care what his opinion was on
the subject.
Parts Unknown ended up being very successful.
The program focused on various cultures, cuisines, and politics from all around the work.
President Obama even ended up making an appearance on the program in 2016 in an episode about
Vietnam.
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A New Book Sheds Light On Bourdain’s Final Days
Veteran Journalist Charles Leerhsen is gearing up to release his latest book, Down and Out
in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain.
The biography is slated to hit bookshelves and online e-book retailers on October 11,
2022.
The book includes alleged texts Bourdain sent in his final days alive, shedding a ton of
light on what his mental state was like in the time leading up to his death.
Those texts reveal that Bourdain was in anguish over the state of his career, his estranged
marriage, and his failing romantic relationship with actor Asia Argento.
Selections of the upcoming book were recently published in The New York Times.
In one text directed toward his estranged wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, Anthony wrote
that he hated his fans, hated being famous, and hated his job.
He went on to tell Ottavia, whom he separated from in 2016, that he felt lonely and like
he was living in constant uncertainty.
Although the New York Times article doesn’t specifically say that Ottavia provided the
texts, given the fact that she controls his state now, that would mean she would also
have control over what happens with his text messages.
Perhaps the biggest clue that sheds some light on what Bourdain's troubled mental state was
like at the time that he took his life at that French hotel are his exchanges with Asia
Argento.
Leerhsen’s book details the couple’s tumultuous relationship.
Both sides apparently expressed a great deal of discomfort over the fact that social media
photos depicted each other with another partner.
The photos in question showed Bourdain spending time with his estranged wife and daughter
while Argento was pictured with a French reporter in the lobby of Hotel De Russie in Rome.
After seeing the picture of Argento with that French reporter, he texted her that he was
okay, wasn’t spiteful, and didn’t feel jealous that she was with another man.
He went on to say that he had no ownership over her and that she was free to do what
she pleased.
That being said, he later lamented that she was careless and reckless with his heart and
life.
The Times excerpts went on to show that Bourdain felt hurt that Argento's tryst took place
in a hotel that they had previously enjoyed together.
Argento responded to his heartfelt expressions by saying that she 'couldn't take this' and
that she could no longer remain in the relationship due to his 'possessiveness'.
In his final exchange of texts with Argento, Anthony asked the actor if there was anything
he could do.
Argento replied by telling the celebrity food writer to stop busting her balls.
Bourdain replied with a simple ‘Ok’ and just hours later he hung himself in his room.
The Times article discussed how the book has already come under fire from Bourdain’s
family, former colleagues, and friends.
His brother Christopher Bourdain sent the book’s publisher, Simon, and Schuster, two
emails back in August calling the book a ‘hurtful and defamatory’ work of fiction.
The publisher responded to Christopher’s concerns by stating that they didn’t believe
the book contained any defamatory information and that they stood by their decision to publish
it.
Argento told the Times that she had yet to read the book and that she had explicitly
told its author not to publish anything that she had said to him.
Another interesting tidbit included in the book is the claim that Bourdain paid a sum
of $380,00 to musician and actor Jimmy Bennett, who claimed that he had a sexual relationship
with Argento when she was 37 and he was just 17.
According to the book, Bennet had sought $3.5 million in damages.
Whether or not the texts and claims made in the recent Anthony Bourdain book can be verified
remains to be seen.
Either way, it's clear that Bourdain was a deeply troubled man who was over being a celebrity
by the end of his life.
It's impossible to truly know what was going through his mind in the days leading up to
his suicide, but from what we do know, he felt completely trapped by the direction that
life had taken him.
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please reach out to someone and
get help.
We’ll include the number to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the description.
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In the comments, let us know what some of your fondest memories of Anthony Bourdain
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