Rik Mayall, star of The Young Ones, dies aged 56.

[IanD]

Rik Mayall, star of The Young Ones, dies aged 56.

British comedian and actor Rik Mayall has died aged 56, according to his management team.

He played the obnoxious, poetry-writing anarchist Rick in The Young Ones alongside his friend Adrian Edmondson before the duo later went on to star in their sitcom Bottom.

Mayall also appeared in shows including Blackadder and The New Statesman.

He was left seriously ill after a quad bike accident in 1998 which left him in a coma for several days.

Mayall's film roles included the comedies Drop Dead Fred and Guest House Paradiso.

His big break came at The Comic Strip Club, performing with comedy partner Adrian Edmondson as 20th Century Coyote in the 1980s which led to cult television hit The Comic Strip Presents.

He co-wrote The Young Ones with Lise Mayer and Ben Elton, which shared cult status and schoolboy humour with later sitcom Bottom.

Mayall and Edmondson's slapstick comedy often involved fires, explosions, and hefty blows to the head with a frying pan.

Mayall also famously played the loud-mouthed and lecherous Lord Flashheart in BBC comedy series Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson.

He appeared in the second and fourth series, shouting catchphrases such as "woof!" and "let's do-oo-oo it!".

But his early, anarchic characters gave way to the smooth, scheming Conservative politician Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman, which ran on ITV from 1986 to 1992.

A statement from Mayall's management, Brunskill, said: "We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Rik Mayall who passed away this morning.

"We will be issuing a further statement in the fullness of time."

Blackadder producer and writer John Lloyd told the BBC: "It's really a dreadful piece of news."

"He was the most extraordinarily good actor as well as being an amazing stand-up comics. Apart from being great company, he was a great professional," said Lloyd

RIP.

Loved him in Bottom.

[Hornet]

Loved him in The Young Ones. I'm from the same Generation, (almost the same age). He was one of the pioneers of the British Alternative Comedy scene. A very sad loss.

[blockhead]

Bad News Tour-Comic Strip
One of my all time favorites.
" People always ask me how good of a guitarist I think I am. Well Jimmy Paige wrote Stairway to Heaven at 21, I could play it when I was 12, says it all really"

Sad loss.

[Lamb of BOD]

Sad loss, indeed. A fine actor as well as a comedian - a possessor of some great facial expressions. 56 is far too young to lose such a talent

[blockhead]

All I could find on Ytube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDN4_VpiTVw

[Hornet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysG96dUtGh4

[Grumpy Old Man]

Rik is dead, the Peoples Poet is dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q0CkeuSqxk

[nelly the elephant]

Grew up watching him from the time of "Kevin Turvey" (don't remember what show that segment was in) through the Young Ones, The New Statesman and Bottom. Those cameos as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder were comedy gold as well.......a sad loss.

[Hornet]

Grew up watching him from the time of "Kevin Turvey" (A Kick up thr Eighties) through the Young Ones, The New Statesman and Bottom. Those cameos as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder were comedy gold as well.......a sad loss.

[nelly the elephant]

Grew up watching him from the time of "Kevin Turvey" (A Kick up thr Eighties) through the Young Ones, The New Statesman and Bottom. Those cameos as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder were comedy gold as well.......a sad loss.

Cheers Hornet.

[DannyH]

He will be sadly missed, The Young Ones was pure gold.

[honeyec]

I had the most crushable crush on him when I was about 8, and of course all my friends thought I was stone mad. Goes to show you, lads, never underestimate the power of wit on a lady's sensibilities!

Very sad news altogether; he typified a very anarchic, irreverent type of humour that I'm not sure our current world of intsa-news in bite-sized portions is capable of nurturing again any time soon.

[MarkyDeSad]

Alan B'stard was my favourite though the others were all excellent.
I read once that he had been cast as Peeves the Poltergeist in the Harry Potter films but sadly ended up on the cutting room floor or some such, a big loss to the films I suspect and a great loss all round.
He will be missed.