Rik Mayall's wife says comedian's death a mystery

The Young Ones star Rik Mayall has died suddenly, aged 56.

The British comic actor's portrayal of a puerile anarchist in the BBC sitcom endeared him to a generation of viewers in the 1980s.

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.

Mayall's wife, Barbara Robbin, is thought to have found Mayall's body at their upmarket southwest London home yesterday.

She told a British tabloid she has no idea how he died.

"We don't know yet what happened," the make-up artist was quoted by the Mirror as saying.

"He had a strong heart, so I don't think it was a heart attack. But we just don't know until the coroner's report.

"Maybe he had a fit, maybe it was his heart."

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances to the death.

In 1998, Mayall survived a potentially fatal accident on a quad bike, but he had been working until recently.

Speaking about the accident last year, Mayall said he had been kept alive on a life-support machine for five days and doctors were considering turning it off when he began to show signs of life.

He said the brush with death changed his life. For years afterwards, he would mark the occasion by exchanging gifts with his wife and three children.

He said: "The main difference between now and before my accident is I'm just very glad to be alive.

"Other people get moody in their forties and fifties. Men get the male menopause. I missed the whole thing. I was just really happy."

In an ironic twist one of the actor's last projects was narrating a short animated film called 'Don't Fear Death.

The film was aired on English TV last August and discusses the benefits of dying, saying death "is your passport to complete and utter freedom. No pulse, no responsibilities. Carpe mortem – seize death."

Paying tribute, Blackadder producer John Lloyd said Mayall was "just extraordinary".

"It's really a dreadful piece of news," he told the BBC.

Edmondson paid his own unique tribute to Mayall, referring to his long-term friend and comedy partner as "a selfish bastard" for dying without him.

Source: The Mirror

Author: Erin Tennant, Approving editor: Martin Zavan