Comic Sean dies aged 58 after secret cancer battle
HEARTBROKEN stars from the world of comedy shared tributes to Sean Lock yesterday after it was announced the 58-year-old comic had lost a secret battle with cancer.
Friends said the stand-up and TV star had “quietly wrestled” with the illness before he died at home surrounded by his family.
Sean was a team captain on 18 series of hit Channel 4 panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats and his co-stars lined up to share their grief.
Host Jimmy Carr tweeted: “Brutal news about Sean Lock today. I loved him. I’m watching clips of him right now – laughing & crying.”
Jason Manford said: “I’m absolutely gutted about this.”
He added: “I texted him a couple of weeks ago and I’m now so glad I did...RIP.”
Sean’s rival team captain Jon Richardson said: “I idolised Sean as a comic long before I became a comedian. An incredible comic brain and a truly unique voice.” Sean won the best live stand-up gong at the 2000 British Comedy Awards.
Harry Hill said: “He was fearless, that’s what all us comics liked about him – often called the comedian’s comedian, which he liked.
Harry added on ITV News: “He had a huge talent and a very original mind...and that’s what we’ve lost.A one-off.”
Sean, who had two daughters and a son with wife Anoushka Nara Giltsoff, was a regular guest on other comedy panel shows includNot
ing QI and Have I Got News For You. QI fallguy Alan Davies said he was: “Funny on stage, hilarious off.We met in 1988 right at the start of our stand-up careers. “I hadn’t seen him in recent years as he quietly wrestled with illness, but I feel very sad today for Anoushka and their children.” And former host Stephen Fry said: “Safe to say the best episodes of QI I was involved with were always the ones where Sean Lock was a guest. “Such complete brilliance. What a loss.”
Going Out star Lee Mack hailed his pal a “true original” adding: “I’ve known this day was coming for some time, but it’s no less heartbreaking. I will miss him so much.”
Strictly winner Bill Bailey told Radio 5 Live: “He was my dearest friend...we’ve known each other more than 30 years.We’ve known he was ill for some time, but even so it’s still a shock when the day comes.”
Tears
One of Surrey-born Sean’s first TV appearances was in 1993, on Newman And Baddiel In Pieces. He script-edited 1998 BBC Two series Is It Bill Bailey? and had his own show on BBC Radio 4 called 15 Minutes Of Misery, later expanded into BBC sitcom 15 Storeys High. In 2006 and 2007 he also hosted C4 series TV Heaven,Telly Hell.
It is not known what cancer Sean had but in the 1990s he recovered from skin cancer, which he blamed on working on building sites while younger. He said: “You could hardly ask a big Irish foreman, ‘Please could you rub some Ambre Solaire on my back?’” He also once joked about what he would like his obituary to say: “Ideally, ‘Nooooooo! Whyyyyyy?’ You can’t write tears.”