Tributes after death of ‘comedy great’ Mel Smith

The comic, actor and director Mel Smith was hailed as one of the comedy greats of the modern era after his death from a heart attack at the age of 60.

Smith, who is understood to have been ill for some time, was at the home he shared with wife Pam in London when he died on Friday.

His sidekick Griff Rhys Jones, with whom he starred in sketch show Alas Smith and Jones for more than a decade, said his friend and colleague was a force for life and he was deeply saddened by the death.

Jones, who had been friends with Smith for 35 years, said: “I still can’t believe this has happened. To everybody who ever met him, Mel was a force for life. He had a relish for it that seemed utterly inexhaustible.

“He inspired love and utter loyalty and he gave it in return. I will look back on the days working with him as some of the funniest times that I have ever spent.

“We probably enjoyed ourselves far too much, but we had a rollercoaster of a ride along the way. Terrific business. Fantastic fun, making shows. Huge parties and crazy times,” he said.

“He was a gentleman and a scholar, a gambler and a wit. And he was a brilliant actor. But he never took himself or the business too seriously. We are all in a state of shock. We have lost a very, very dear friend.”

The pair had first worked together on Not the Nine O’Clock News, which ran from 1979 to 1982, alongside Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Stephenson. They went on to form production company Talkback, which was responsible for Da Ali G Show and Knowing Me, Knowing You.

When Alias Smith and Jones ended, Smith turned his attention to his directing career, and also continued to appear in films and television programmes.