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Mayall was best-known for the TV shows The Young Ones and Bottom, both of which he starred in alongside Adrian Edmondson.
Comedian and actor Rik Mayall has died aged 56, his management has said.
He was best-known for the TV shows The Young Ones and Bottom, both of which he starred in alongside Adrian Edmondson.
Mayall, who died at home in London, was also in several other programmes including The New Statesman - as conniving MP Alan B'Stard, The Comic Strip Presents and Blackadder.
And he appeared on the big screen in films including Drop Dead Fred.
One of his most recent roles was in the TV show Man Down, in which he plays the father of a teacher whose girlfriend has left him.
Mayall was seriously ill after a quad bike accident in 1998 which left him in a coma for several days.
But he made a recovery and was working until recently.
Mayall said doctors had kept him alive on a life-support machine for five days and were about to turn it off when he began to show signs of life.
Rik Mayall dead at 56
Mayall with long-time collaborator Adrian Edmondson
Speaking last year 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."
Mayall, who was married with three children, found fame playing would-be anarchist Rick in The Young Ones which ran from 1982 to 1984 in two six-part series.
The show featured anarchic, offbeat humour and it helped to bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s.
The programme also featured Edmondson as punk Vyvyan, Nigel Planer as paranoid hippie Neil, and Christopher Ryan as shady Mike.
Mayall and Edmondson reprised their original act in the anarchic comedy Bottom.
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 said: "Oh no. Awful news about Rik Mayall - a fireball of creative comic energy and inspiration. Such brilliant raw talent."
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