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Tom Vitale was about to board a plane for India when he heard the shocking news.
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His friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain, died by his own hand in a small hotel in France.
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The death of the 61-year-old chef, a reluctant, jack-of-all-trades TV star, stunned the world who fell in love with Bourdain through his book, Confidential kitchenbut especially for his show on CNN, Unknown parts.
As a producer, Vitale spent 14 years traveling the world with Bourdain, starting with Visit of a cook just months after graduating from college in 2002.
“The Tony I knew wasn’t that different from the one you saw on TV, except he was a lot more edited,” Vitale said. The Toronto Sun in an exclusive interview.
“There was a lot more thinking behind the scenes than people realized because the show looked effortless. Tony was quite a demanding person and he never tried to hide it.
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Recently, Bourdain came back into the news two years after his death on June 18, 2018. The reason was an explosive unauthorized biography, Down and out to heaven (Simon and Schuster).
Journalist Charles Leerhsen’s book focuses largely on the celebrity chef’s turmoil over the past year, his heartache over splitting up with Italian femme fatale, actress Asia Argento, and his growing unease over the celebrity.
Vitale wrote his own book Bourdain last year, In the weeds and behind the scenes with Anthony Bourdaina collection of essays about his dozen years on the road with the star.
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He went to work for Bourdain in 2006, right after finishing school, and would eventually become the star’s director and producer. They have traveled to dozens of countries, including exotic places like Brazil, the Azores and Bourdain’s favorite, Vietnam.
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“Tony had a big personality, and we showed that a show can be different,” Vitale said, adding that the pair were “constantly working, creating, evolving.”
“He was always accelerating, it wasn’t something at the time that I saw was a warning sign.”
For a young producer and director, it was an exciting journey, Vitale said of the 100 episodes they directed together.
And then it ended with the tragic death of Bourdain, the man everyone wanted to have a beer with on a terrace in Hanoi or share a taco with in Tampico. Vitale said writing her book about their great adventures was therapeutic.
“It was quite an experience writing it. I couldn’t go back to TV. I guess my book is part travelogue and part what it was like to be there to share the story. experience,” added Vitale.
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“It was a hell of a ride. So many different parts, so many different episodes. Iran was amazing, having a beer with Barrack Obama in Vietnam…but it was often more stressful than it looked.
It appeared that the non-stop action appealed to Bourdain, as if he stopped he would get lost.
“Tony was constantly on the move and was the kind of person who always had you guessing, he couldn’t be captured by one thread, he was many, many things,” Vitale noted.
One of Bourdain’s great struggles was with his international face, this unease accelerated towards the end of his life.
“Tony always had an uncomfortable relationship with fame, the attention made him squirm a bit,” Vitale noted. “But with the fans, he was always incredibly respectful and gracious even though he was uncomfortable. He compared it to being in a ‘kissing booth’. But that was also part of what made him such a compelling character.
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Work on Unknown parts and having Bourdain as a boss could be heartbreaking.
It was not an equal deal. As Vitale told the New York Post in 2021, one minute he’d want to nominate you for an Emmy, the next he’d threaten to “attach jumper cables to your testicles.”
Four years later, Vitale is still grappling with Bourdain’s sudden and untimely death.
“Certainly, still to this day, I am shocked. I found it out of character and unexpected. It’s still kind of shocking,” Vitale said.
“TV is an interesting way to make a living, and working on Parts Unknown was electrifying. Like a lot of people, I find it hard to watch those shows now.
He added: “Tony was my friend, but much, much more than that…bigger than that. I’m very grateful for the experience and knowing him.
“I was traveling with the most fascinating person I have ever met. I guess my book gives readers an idea of what it was like to be there.
@HunterTOSun
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