How Anthony Bourdain overcame a turbulent past to achieve global stardom

UPDATE: Anthony Bourdain died, age 61, on June 8, 2018. 

Not many peoplehave had the kind of turbulent path to success experienced by Anthony Bourdain. The world-famous chef might have just sat down for a meal with US President Barack Obama in Vietnam last month, but Bourdain's beginnings weren't quite that prestigious. The former drug addict has openly discussed his battle with heroin during his early 20s, followed by 20 long years, slaving away desperately trying to make it as a chef in the often ultra-macho, brutal world of the kitchen, famously celebrated in his best-selling 2001 book .

These days you'd be hard pressed to find a man more content with life. And he has good reason to be. In the past few years he's found himself elevated into a whole new realm of celebrity, with television hit after hit including and , a best-selling graphic novel , and a soon to be released documentary called , detailing the life of Jeremiah Tower, America's most influential celebrity chef.

Now approaching his 60th birthday, Bourdain gives off an air of humble serenity and introspection. Talking about the popularity of his Emmy-Award winning travelogue , which has recently returned for a seventh series on CNN, he says: "I just try very hard to have fun, to challenge myself, to explore things that interest me, and if an audience chooses to come along on the ride then that makes me happy."

Perhaps Bourdain's power lies in the fact that he doesn't feel he needs fame. He presents the impression of a man who accidently stumbled into the world of celebrity and has somewhat reluctantly embraced it. He is one of the most genuine and insightful personalities on TV, at a time when it seems as if everyone is shouting and trying to force opinions on their audiences. "For most people on television, their greatest fear is that they won't be on television anymore," he tells us, "and that fear drives what they do and how they do it."

For Bourdain things are different. Fatherhood has given him a more relaxed outlook on life. "I have a heart. I'm a dad. And I know what hard work is [. . . ] those things resonate with me."

It's this compassionate perspective that makes him perfectly suited to his role on . The show follows him to some of the most troubled parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Iran and Libya, and he is keenly aware of his responsibility to respect as well as entertain. "When you make a television show in a place, it changes that place," Bourdain says. "We're given the freedom to look around the room, not just stare at the place. But it's not a benign thing to push yourself into a home with cameras. So that's something we wrestle with and sometimes even address directly."

has grown with its host, from being a show about food to being one about people and politics. "There is nothing more political than food," Bourdain claims. "Things started to happen around the meal. If I was sitting there in the mountains of Laos and my host is missing two limbs, it seemed worth asking what happened."

The charismatic chef also believes that travelling has changed him for the better. "I've learned that most people in the world are pretty nice and are doing the best they can. I was not always so optimistic about basic human nature."