Rik Mayall's daughter celebrates 'the man, the myth, the legend - my wonderful generous, foul-mouthed and hysterical father'
Bonnie Mayall celebrates the life of her late father
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Rik Mayall’s youngest daughter, Bonnie Mayall, has paid tribute to her late father.
The actor and comedian died on 9 June, aged 56, in his London home. His cause of death is not yet known.
“We will never forget him and neither will the world,” the 19-year-old wrote on her Facebook page.
"R.I.P to the man, the myth, the legend - my wonderful generous, foul-mouthed and hysterical father. “My idol now and forever.
“We love you daddy.”
His wife, Barbara, and 27-year-old daughter, Rosie, also shared their favourite pictures of the late The Young Ones and Blackadder actor on their respective Facebook pages.
Mayall also has a son, Sidney, aged 26.
Rik Mayall: Career in pictures
Show all 15HIs former colleague and friend Peter Richardson told how his son spoke to the comedian just half an hour before his sudden death.
“He was happily chatting away [to my son] and then we still don’t know quite what happened but it was a seizure of some sort,” said Richardson on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.
In 1998, Mayall was left in a coma for several days after a serious quad bike accident. He recovered, but was left with epilepsy – for which he took daily medication.
“He had 16 years after the quad bike and I think that at the time people didn't think he would survive,” added Richardson, who worked with Mayall on The Comic Strip Presents.
“But he lived for another 16 years and it was just shocking that he was so happy and seemed so healthy when he did go.”
His wife – who he married in 1985 – said the day following his death that the family didn’t yet know the reason for his passing.
“We don't know yet what happened,” she said. “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. We just don't know.”
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