RIK MAYALL DIES: Rik Mayall, the comedian and star of The Young Ones, has died aged 56. A spokesman for Mayall’s management company said that he died at home this morning. The cause of death has not been released. Roger Davidson, of Brunskill Management, said: It is a terrible shock. All we know at this stage is that Rik died at home. We are all deeply saddened by this news, from the enormous number of fans Rik had to those who worked with him and knew him as a man as well as a fine actor. He touched many lives, and always for the better. The comedian appeared as Rick in The Young Ones, Lord Flashheart in Blackadder, Alan BStard in The New Statesman and Richie in Bottom, and had a long-running partnership with Ade Edmondson. He was part of the Comic Strip Presents team, which also included Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Alexei Sayle. In 1998, he survived a near-fatal quad bike accident at his home in Devon, suffering a fractured skull and two brain haemorrhages. The accident left him with epilepsy for which he took medication. He was on life support for five days and doctors were close to turning it off before he suddenly showed signs of life. Mayall once joked: I beat Jesus Christ, he said. “He was dead for three days at Easter. When I crashed it was the day before Good Friday, Crap Thursday, and I was technically dead until Easter Monday – that’s five days. “Jesus was nailed up on Friday and came to on Easter Day. I beat him 5-3.” The father-of-three recovered and returned to work, appearing in last years Channel 4 sitcom Man Down and in the BBC series Jonathan Creek. Among those paying tribute to Mayall was David Walliams, who said: I am heartbroken that my comedy idol growing up, Rik Mayall, has died. He made me want to be a comedian. Impressionist Rory Bremner tweeted: Oh no. Awful news about Rik Mayall - a fireball of creative comic energy and inspiration. Such brilliant raw talent. Blackadder producer John Lloyd said Mayall was just extraordinary. Speaking to BBC News, he said: Its really a dreadful piece of news. I remember going to the very first night of the Comedy Store 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. Pictured: (L-R) The Young Ones - 1982: Vyvyan (Adrian Edmondson), Neil (Nigel Planer), Mike (Christopher Ryan), Rick (Rik Mayall) Pictured: Rik Mayall (Solo)
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 16:14:30 +0000
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