Ramsay, Gordon (1966-…), is a Scottish celebrity chef, restaurant owner, author, and television personality. Ramsay is known for the quality of his restaurants and for his temper, confident personality, and use of foul language in his kitchens and on television. Ramsay stars in several television series in the United Kingdom and United States.
Ramsay was born Nov. 8, 1966, in Johnstone, near Glasgow, Scotland. He was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Ramsay studied hotel and catering management at North Oxfordshire Technical College in the mid-1980’s. In 1984, he suffered a knee injury that ended his chances for a career in soccer. He then decided to focus on becoming a chef. He worked in many English restaurants and traveled to France in 1989 to learn French cuisine. In 1993, he became the head chef at a London restaurant named Aubergine. In 1998, Ramsay opened his own restaurant, called Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. He now owns more than 20 restaurants around the world.
Ramsay has starred in several reality television series. His foul language and bad temper made the documentary series Ramsay’s Boiling Point (1999) a controversial hit in the United Kingdom. The show followed his departure from Aubergine to start his own restaurant. Ramsay gained fame in the United States for Hell’s Kitchen, a cooking competition series that he hosts and judges. The show first aired in the United States in 2005. In Kitchen Nightmares, which first aired in the United States in 2007, Ramsay visits failing restaurants and gives the owners advice. Both U.S. shows were based on similar programs from the United Kingdom.
Ramsay is the author of such cookbooks as Gordon Ramsay’s Sunday Lunch: 25 Simple Menus to Pamper Family and Friends (2012) and Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite (2008). He also wrote an autobiography called Roasting in Hell’s Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection (2006). In 2006, Ramsay was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to the hospitality industry.
