Rik Mayall

Rik Mayall (born March 7, 1958, Harlow, Essex, England—died June 9, 2014, London) was a British comic actor and writer known for playing over-the-top, humorously unlikable characters. He is best known as a cast member and writer for the influential British situation comedy The Young Ones, which ran for 12 episodes from 1982 to 1984, and for portraying the title character in the dark comedy film Drop Dead Fred (1991).

Early life

Mayall was the second child of John Mayall and Gillian (née Harrild) Mayall, who both worked as drama teachers. He made his first stage appearance at age seven in one of his father’s plays. In 1975 he began studying drama at the University of Manchester, where he met actor-writer Adrian (“Ade”) Edmondson, who would become his close friend and longtime collaborator. The duo met actor-writer Ben Elton and writer Lise Mayer at the university, both of whom they would later team up with to write The Young Ones.

Career and personal life

In 1980 Mayall and Edmondson began performing slapstick-based stand-up comedy under the name “20th Century Coyote” at the Comedy Store club in London. During this time, Mayall developed a pretentious anarchist poet character named Rick, who would later serve as an inspiration for his character on The Young Ones. Mayall and Edmondson, along with comedians Alexei Sayle, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, and Nigel Planer, went on to establish a venue called The Comic Strip in London’s Raymond Revuebar club. In 1982 Mayall, Edmondson, Saunders, Planer, and actor Peter Richardson launched the satiric television movie series The Comic Strip Presents (1982–2016), with episodes featuring players from The Comic Strip performing in 30-minute short films that parodied tales from other films, literature, and popular culture.

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Also in 1982, The Young Ones, a situation comedy about four mismatched housemates attending the fictional Scumbag College in London, made its debut on the channel BBC Two. It starred Mayall as Rick, a self-proclaimed anarchist and “people’s poet”; Edmondson as Vyvyan, a sociopathic punk rocker and medical student; Planer as Neil, a somber and pessimistic hippie; and Christopher Ryan as Mike, the mature, smooth-talking leader of the group. Sayle, Saunders, French, and Elton also appeared in various supporting roles. Most episodes incorporated performances by musical guests, such as the British rock bands Madness, The Damned, and Motörhead. Though The Young Ones ran for only 12 episodes, its blend of offbeat, surrealistic sensibilities and slapstick humour, along with the occasional use of puppetry, inspired a fresh, alternative approach to television comedy in the 1980s. In the United States, the series was broadcast on the cable television network MTV starting in 1985 and later aired on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Comedy Central, and BBC America networks.

Mayall worked consistently in British and European film and television. He played the role of Mad Gerald in a 1983 episode of the historical situation comedy Blackadder and also portrayed the character Flashheart in a 1986 episode of Blackadder II. He won a BAFTA Award in 1987 for playing the extreme right-wing politician Alan B’Stard in the situation comedy The New Statesman (1987–94). From 1989 to 1991, he starred as the narrator of the children’s television series Grim Tales, which featured adaptations of stories by the Brothers Grimm.

Hollywood came calling in 1991, and Mayall starred in the title role of the dark romantic comedy Drop Dead Fred opposite actress Phoebe Cates. The film was not a critical success, but over the years it has remained popular as a fan favourite and cult classic. Mayall returned to a seemingly more comfortable fit in British television comedy, working again with Edmondson on the odd-couple sitcom Bottom from 1991 to 1995. Mayall won an Emmy Award for outstanding voice-over performance in 1997 for his work in the animated television movie The Willows in Winter (1996).

He had a serious accident in 1998 while riding a quad bike (or four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle) at his farm in Devon, England, which resulted in a coma that lasted for several days. He recovered and returned to working in British television and film, including another mismatched-pair slapstick collaboration with Edmondson in the dark comedy film Guest House Paradiso (1999). Mayall voiced the character Kehaar in the animated television series Watership Down (1999–2000), based on the 1972 novel by author Richard Adams, and he provided the voice for King Arthur in the animated series King Arthur’s Disasters (2005–06). When he was not working in television and film, he toured with Edmondson for live performances of Bottom.

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Mayall died of cardiac arrest in London in 2014. He was survived by his wife, Barbara Robbin (whom he married in 1985), and three daughters, Rosie, Sydney, and Bonnie. His final film performance, in the drama The Escape, was released in 2015.