Rik Mayall dies

Actor and comedian was just 56.

by Jennie Kermode

Rik Mayall as a neglected imaginary friend in Drop Dead Fred
Rik Mayall as a neglected imaginary friend in Drop Dead Fred

Rik Mayall, the much loved star of Bottom and The Young Ones who also starred on the big screen in the likes of Drop Dead Fred, Eat The Rich, Shock Treatment and An American Werewolf In London, has died at the age of 56. The cause of death is not yet known.

Mayall, who spent five days in a coma following a quad bike accident in 1998, had sai that as his friends began to dread getting older he was really happy to be alive. After his accident he continued to work, appearing in the likes of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone and Errors Of The Human Body. There had recently been talk of reviving the highly successful Comic Strip team.

He is survived by his wife Barbara and children Rosie, Sidney and Bonnie.

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