The massive Ls of Bong TV chef Keith Floyd

That's Keith Floyd, full-time drinker and part-time TV chef, trying to present a TV show in South Africa while in a very advanced state of liquid refreshment. To be fair, I think that's a pretty good Pink Lady he somehow manages to mix.

Keith Floyd ran every restaurant he started into the ground. He was belligerent, argumentative and prone to fits of rage. For example, the time he stormed off set and refused to do a skit at Gilbraltair, forcing his producer to film the bit for him. Or the time he got drunk shooting a bit mid morning and accused his director of using cocaine:

Despite this, he was never out of work on TV and has been cited as an inspiration by Rick Stein, Marco Pierre White and Gordon Fricking Ramsay.

This is because he was very entertaining, fun to work with and had a great sense of humor. He was always the first to laugh at himself and to take criticism. Here he has his cooking demolished by an uppity frog. He translates her withering put down completely:

Here he ruining fish which he has decided to cook in a pan full of salt for some reason:

Here he is setting a boat on fire:

Floyd was a heavy smoker and, I'm sure you will have noticed, liked a drink.

In October 2002 Floyd was reported to have suffered a mild stroke, although he denied this in his autobiography. In November 2004 he was banned from driving for 32 months and fined $1.700 after crashing his car into another vehicle while three-and-a-half times over the legal UK alcohol limit. In the summer of 2006 he was diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition.

In August 2007, he was hospitalised in Thailand after collapsing drunk in a restaurant. He collapsed again at a pub in Chesterton, Staffordshire, on 29 January 2008 and was in a coma in hospital on a life-support machine. He was discharged on 22 February, travelling to his home in France to recuperate. He made a full recovery. On 14 September 2008, exactly a year before his death, he collapsed and was hospitalised for several days.

Floyd died of a heart attack, aged 65, on 14 September 2009.

Most of his shows are on YouTube and I recommend them very highly. He was a good chef and often cooked great food, but his shows were far more entertaining than just that.