Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chef and travel host, found dead in hotel room in France at age 61

US celebrity chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain has been found dead in his hotel room in France, American TV channel CNN has confirmed. The 61-year-old is believed to have committed suicide. Bourdain, a best-selling food, fiction and non-fiction author as well as TV personality, was in France working on a shoot for his series, Parts Unknown, on the cable network CNN. [caption id=“attachment_4502745” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Anthony Bourdain with former US president Barack Obama in an episode of Parts Unknown. Twitter @ObamaHitsBack[/caption] His close friend Eric Ripert, the French chef, found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room Friday morning, according to CNN. CNN confirmed Bourdain’s death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide. “It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain,” CNN said in a statement Friday morning. “His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time.” On the network, anchors struggled to hold back tears as they recalled their late colleague in heartfelt recollections and urged people faced with despair or who know people who are struggling with depression to call a suicide hotline.