Anthony Bourdain’s Devastated Mom Reveals How She First Learned About Son's Suicide

Anthony Bourdain’s devastated mother has revealed the last time she heard from her son and the tragic moment she found out he had taken his own life.

Gladys Bourdain told NBC News in a phone interview that her other son, Christopher, delivered the heartbreaking news of the Kitchen Confidential author’s death.

"He didn’t disguise anything or take on any act of persona,'' she said of her “feisty and “very talented” late son. "He was who he was, and it was out there for everyone to see."

Gladys, a former editor at The New York Times, added the last time she last heard from Bourdain in an email he sent her on Mother’s Day.

As RadarOnline.com reported, the star chef, 61, used a bathrobe belt to hang himself in his room at Le Chambard hotel in Kayserserberg, France, on June 8.

Bourdain’s fellow chef, Eric Ripert, who found the body, said his friend was “an exceptional human being.”

In her NBC interview, Gladys also recalled her son’s precocious childhood.

“In 2nd grade, his teacher suggested that we put him into a private school because he was sitting in a corner reading books while all the other kids were learning how to read,” she revealed of the Parts Unknown host.

And Bourdain’s mom said 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,'' said Gladys.