Anthony Bourdain was an American chef, author and television host, born in Manhattan. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978 and spent several years as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan. His book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000) was a New York Times bestseller. A Cook's Tour ran on the Food Network in 2002 and 2003, followed on the Travel Channel by No Reservations (2005 to 2012) and The Layover (2011 to 2013). In 2013 he moved to CNN to host Parts Unknown, which won a Peabody Award and several Emmy Awards. He died on June 8, 2018.
A reading filmed in Jaipur
The Astro-Databank note says: "In the Noel Tyl discussion forum a member derived the time 8:35 from a vedic chart on a computer screen in an online video, where Bourdain had his chart read by an Indian astrologer in Jaipur."
It goes on: "Pamela Young confirmed that she saw a legible screen shot, giving the sidereal Ascendant of 18°14 Cancer, which corresponds to this time of birth."
| Point | Sign at birth | In that sign | Before and after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rising sign | ♌︎ Leo | 7:37 a.m. to 10:09 a.m. | Cancer before, Virgo after |
| Midheaven | ♉︎ Taurus | 8:34 a.m. to 10:32 a.m. | Aries before, Gemini after |
| Moon | ♑︎ Capricorn | midnight to 11:25 a.m. | Aquarius after |
Rising sign, midheaven and Moon calculated by us, New York, Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).
Cancer, Capricorn and Leo: how the three read
A Cancer Sun at 3°54′ is read as a protective, memory-keeping core. The Moon at 28°36′ of Capricorn points to feeling that is held back and worked through, and Leo rising, 11°30′ Leo, to a warm, dramatic first impression. Cancer and Capricorn are opposite signs, so tenderness and restraint pull against each other.
Our pages: Sun, Moon and rising together · Moon in Capricorn · Leo rising · Cancer.
One horizon, read in two zodiacs
Pamela Young read 18°14′ Cancer in the sidereal zodiac; in the tropical zodiac used here that point is 11°30′ Leo. The two zodiacs count from different starting points, and in 1956 the gap was about 23°15′. Subtracting it from our ascendant gives 18°15′ Cancer, within a minute or two of arc of her figure.
That is why a Jaipur reading says Cancer where a Western chart says Leo. The match also pins the time, because the rising degree advances about one degree every 5 minutes. Leo held the horizon from 7:37 a.m. to 10:09 a.m., and he was born 58 minutes into it.
Our pages: birth chart · rising sign calculator · Leo rising.
Taurus took the midheaven at 8:34 a.m.
The midheaven is 0°29′ Taurus. Taurus reached the top of the sky the minute before the recorded time and holds it until 10:32 a.m. The midheaven stands for public standing, and Taurus there goes with appetite and things made by hand.
Venus, ruler of Taurus, stands at 28°45′ of Gemini, retrograde, with Mercury at 12°08′. Both fall in the 11th house, the house of audiences and friends, and Venus is 0°53′ from a sextile with Jupiter.
Our pages: Midheaven in Taurus · Venus in Gemini · Mercury in Gemini · 11th house.
Jupiter and Pluto at the front of the chart
Jupiter at 27°52′ and Pluto at 26°39′ of Leo are 1°13′ apart, both in the 1st house, the house of the self. Jupiter is expansion and Pluto intensity, so a pair this close to the rising degree reads as a large, concentrated presence.
Uranus stands at 0°49′, the first degree of Leo. Placidus files it under the 12th house, the tradition's place for what stays out of view; Whole Sign puts it with the other two.
Our pages: Jupiter in Leo · Pluto in Leo · Uranus in Leo · 1st house · 12th house.
Jupiter and Neptune, a sextile 0°11′ wide
Jupiter and Neptune at 27°42′ of Libra make the narrowest aspect here, a sextile read as easy cooperation between appetite and imagination. Neptune sits 2°48′ from the IC, in the 3rd house of short trips and local ground.
Saturn, retrograde at 27°07′ of Scorpio, squares Pluto by 0°28′ and Jupiter by 0°45′. Saturn is limits and Pluto pressure, so the square reads as discipline under strain. Saturn lies in the 4th house, the place of roots.
Our pages: Neptune in Libra · Saturn in Scorpio · 3rd house · 4th house.
A Cancer Sun that arrived on 6:25 a.m. on June 21
The Sun entered Cancer at 6:25 a.m. on June 21. It sits in the 11th house by Placidus and the 12th by Whole Sign. The Moon leaves Capricorn for Aquarius at 11:26 a.m., 2 hours and 51 minutes after the recorded time, and squares Neptune by 0°54′. Both systems put it in the 6th house, which covers daily work.
Our pages: moon sign calculator · 6th house · Capricorn.
All major aspects between the planets in Anthony Bourdain's chart
- Jupiter sextile Neptune orb 0°11′
- Saturn square Pluto orb 0°28′
- Mercury square Mars orb 0°43′
- Jupiter square Saturn orb 0°45′
- Venus sextile Jupiter orb 0°53′
- Moon square Neptune orb 0°54′
- Neptune sextile Pluto orb 1°02′
- Venus trine Neptune orb 1°04′
- Jupiter conjunction Pluto orb 1°13′
- Moon sextile Saturn orb 1°29′
- Venus sextile Pluto orb 2°06′
- Moon opposition Uranus orb 2°13′
- Uranus square Neptune orb 3°08′
- Saturn trine Uranus orb 3°42′
- Sun conjunction Venus orb 5°09′
- Sun sextile Jupiter orb 6°02′
- Sun trine Neptune orb 6°13′
- Sun sextile Pluto orb 7°15′
- Sun trine Mars orb 7°31′
Orbs: 8° for conjunction, opposition, square and trine, 6° for sextile, 2° more when the Sun or Moon is involved; Node, Lilith, Ascendant and Midheaven not counted. Same rules as our birth chart calculator.
Questions about Anthony Bourdain's chart
Which sign was rising for Anthony Bourdain?
Leo, at 11°30′ Leo, counted in the tropical zodiac. A sidereal chart puts the same point at 18°15′ Cancer.
Was Anthony Bourdain a Cancer?
By the Sun, yes: it stood at 3°54′ of Cancer on June 25, 1956.
Where is Anthony Bourdain's Moon?
Capricorn, at 28°36′, until it moves into Aquarius at 11:26 a.m.
Which aspect is tightest in his chart?
Jupiter sextile Neptune, 0°11′ from exact.
Where is Anthony Bourdain's midheaven?
At 0°29′ Taurus, in the first degree of Taurus.
Sources
- Astronomy Engine: the open-source ephemeris library behind our planet positions, dates and statistics
- Astro-Databank (Astrodienst): published birth charts we test the calculation against
- How we create our readings: our own calculation of sign dates, positions and the 1930 to 2025 statistics
More celebrity birth charts
Charts closest to this one, sharing the Sun sign, the rising sign or the Moon: Frida Kahlo · Meryl Streep · Ariana Grande · Drake · Lana Del Rey · Princess Diana · Robin Williams · Prince William · Margot Robbie · Tyler, the Creator · Nikola Tesla · Kevin Hart. All 143 charts with their sources and Rodden ratings: celebrity birth charts.
Astrology is a symbolic tradition, not a science. This page explains what the tradition says about the placements in a published chart; it makes no claims about Anthony Bourdain's character, health or private life. Birth data: Astro-Databank (Astrodienst), checked October 20, 2026. Positions: our calculation with the astronomy-engine ephemeris; it matches the Sun, Moon and ascendant degrees Astro-Databank publishes for this chart to within one arc minute.