Anthony Bourdain’s mother has died, just a year and a half after the celebrity chef took his own life.
Gladys Bourdain died on Friday, January 10 at a hospice facility in the Bronx. She was 85. Her son, Christopher, confirmed the death to the New York Times. He said she had been in failing health for some time.
Gladys was a longtime copy editor at The Times, and she was instrumental in helping her late son launch his own culinary career.
As RadarOnline.com reported, her son Anthony took his own life in June 2018 while in Europe filming his CNN series Parts Unknown.
It was later discovered that the star chef, 61, used a bathrobe belt to hang himself in his room at Le Chambard hotel in Kayserserberg, France.
Gladys paid tribute to Anthony days later in an interview with NBC News.
“He didn’t disguise anything or take on any act of persona,” she said of the “feisty and “very talented” gourmand. “He was who he was, and it was out there for everyone to see.”
In the NBC interview, Gladys also recalled an unfortunate accident started her son on his path to culinary fame.
“The thing is he came back from his first summer in Provincetown as a dishwasher, and then one of the cooks burned himself or cut himself so badly he had to stop work and Tony, who had been just observing, filled in,” revealed Gladys.
“And when he came back at the end of that summer, we talked about it and since he had so little interest in his college career, I suggested the Culinary Institute and that’s how it all started,” she added.
After his death, Gladys memorialized her son by inking his name on her wrist — her first and only tattoo.
Gladys married Pierre Bourdain in 1954. They separated in 1980. In addition to her son Christopher, Gladys Bourdain is survived by three grandchildren.
If you or someone you know is in an emotional distress or suicidal, please call the Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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