Rik Mayall's larger-than-life characters graced British screens for around three decades, starting with the obnoxious self-declared anarchist poet Rick in "The Young Ones," who boasted a cowardly yellow streak rather longer than his revolutionary bent. The 56-year-old died at his London home on Monday, according to the Brunskill Management firm representing him. A cause of death was not immediately offered, but police said nothing about the incident appeared suspicious.

Mayall was also among the first regular performers at the legendary London club The Comedy Store, a member of the opening-night lineup back in 1979. There, he caught the attention the producer of the BBC series "Blackadder," John Lloyd.

"It's a really dreadful piece of news," Lloyd told the BBC on Monday. "I remember going to the very first night of the Comedy Store and thinking 'Where does this come from?'"

Lloyd would later cast Mayall in "Blackadder" as Lord Flashheart, a walking, shouting barrage of machismo who coined somewhat inappropriate catchphrases such as "Woof!" and "Let's do-oo-oo it!"

Mayall - along with his comic writing partner Adrian Edmondson and others like Alexei Sayle, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Ben Elton - was a key face of what became known as "alternative comedy" in the 1980s Britain.

From anarchic clown to conservative hawk

Mayall and Edmondson's joint TV project "Bottom," which ran for three series in the 1990s on the BBC, was perhaps the clearest example of the pair's more madcap material. The series followed the invariably asinine and often violent antics of two unemployed slobs living in Hammersmith, London.

"There were times when Rik and I were writing together when we almost died laughing," Edmondson said. "They were some of the most carefree, stupid days I ever had, and I feel privileged to have shared them with him. And now he's died for real. Without me. Selfish bastard."

Mayall's early anarchic characters morphed when he took on a role as the corrupt, suave, lecherous and heavily right-wing Conservative back-bench politician Alan B'Stard in the ITV series "The New Statesman."

In 2002, Mayall came under criticism for what he described as a satirical role, when he appeared in costume as Adolf Hitler in an advert against Britain joining the single European currency, the euro. The five second extract featured Mayall saying "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein euro" (One people, one realm, one euro), and then reappearing to say, in English: "Euro? Oh yes please." Mayall, whose wife Barbara is Jewish, rejected allegations of anti-Semitism leveled at him in the aftermath, saying he opposed the euro primarily as he was "not a joiner."

"Look I'm saying what I say because if Hitler tells people to support the euro then surely they won't. That's the point of it," Mayall told the Sunday Times after the video's release prompted criticism.

Next-generation tributes

Mayall had narrowly survived a coma following an all-terrain vehicle accident back in 1998, an event he later said gave him a new outlook on life at middle age.

"The main difference between now and before my accident is I'm just very glad to be alive," Mayall said after recovering from several days in a coma. "Other people get moody in their 40s and 50s - men get the male menopause. I missed the whole thing. I was just really happy."

Subsequent comedic actors, such as David Walliams and Simon Pegg, paid tribute to Mayall via Twitter on Monday. "Little Britain" star Walliams referred to Mayall as his "comedy idol" growing up.

Pegg, meanwhile, a comic actor who has found success in Hollywood in feature films, posted a link to Mayall playing Rick in the Young Ones, captioned not R.I.P., but "R.I.K."

msh/kms (AFP, AP, Reuters)