(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) British comic actor dead at 56.
british comedian and actor rik mayall who found fame in the cult tv series the young ones died on monday aged 56 his management company said.
the star whose portrayal of the puerile anarchist rick in the bbc’s the young ones endeared him to a generation of viewers in the 1980s became one of britain’s best-known comic actors.
he also appeared in blackadder alongside rowan atkinson as a cynical conservative politician in the new statesman and was reunited with his young ones co-star ade edmondson in bottom.
edmonson offered an aptly profane tribute to his long-time collaborator.
“there were times when rik and i were writing together when we almost died laughing” he said. “they were some of the most carefree stupid days i ever had and i feel privileged to have shared them with him.
“and now he’s died for real. without me. selfish b*****d!”
police said officers were called to a house in the upmarket southwest london district of barnes and “a man aged in his 50s” was pronounced dead at the scene. the death is not believed to be suspicious the spokesman added. in 1998 mayall survived a potentially fatal accident on a quad bike but he had been working until recently.
paying tribute blackadder producer john lloyd said mayall was “just extraordinary”.
“i remember going to the very first night of the comedy store (a club in london) and thinking ‘where does this come from?’.
“it was the most extraordinary thing him and ade edmondson doing the ‘dangerous brothers’ they were called and you just felt you were in the presence of something a whole revolutionary thing.”
blackadder co-star stephen fry said he was “simply distraught” about the news describing mayall as “an authentic comedy genius and a prince among men.”
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