Rik Mayall

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Rik Mayall : biography

7 March 1958 –

Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall (born 7 March 1958) is an English comedian, writer and actor. Mayall is best known for his comedy partnership with Adrian Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s. He appeared in numerous sitcoms including The Young Ones, Blackadder, The New Statesman and Bottom and the big screen in comedy films Drop Dead Fred and Guest House Paradiso.

Personal life

Family

Since 1985 Mayall has been married to Scottish make-up artist Barbara Robbin, with whom he has three children: Rosie (born 1986), Sidney (born 1988) and Bonnie (born 18 September 1995). The couple met in 1981 while filming A Kick Up the Eighties. At the time, Mayall was in a long-term relationship with Lise Mayer. Mayall and Robbin embarked on a secret affair which lasted until 1985. Mayall and Robbin immediately eloped to Barbados. Mayer would later suffer a miscarriage.Interview with Roz Laws, IC Birmingham, 29 December 2002 Mayall maintains that, despite a longstanding feud, he and Mayer are now friends.

Quad bike accident

On 9 April 1998, Mayall was injured after crashing a quad bike near his home in Devon. Mayall’s daughter Bonnie and her cousin had asked him to take them for a ride on the bike – a Christmas gift from his wife – but he refused due to rain, and went alone. Mayall’s wife Barbara looked out the window and saw him lying on the ground with the bike. Believing he was joking she initially left him for a few minutes. He was in a coma for several days. Mayall was airlifted to Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital, with two haematomas and a fractured skull. During the following 96 hours, Mayall was kept sedated to prevent movement which could cause pressure on his brain. His family was warned he could die or have brain damage.Interviewed by Michael Owen, You, 21 November 1999

After five days doctors felt it safe to bring Mayall back to consciousness. In his 2005 spoof biography, Mayall claims he "rose from the dead". During Mayall’s hospitalisation, the Comic Strip special Four Men in a Car was broadcast for the first time. The film involves Mayall’s character being hit by a car. Mayall returned to work with voice-over work. His first post-accident job was in the 1998 Jonathan Creek Christmas special, as DI Gideon Pryke. Mayall and Edmondson have joked about this event in stage versions of Bottom, Edmondson quipping: ‘If only I’d fixed those brakes properly’. The pair wrote the first draft of their feature film Guest House Paradiso while Mayall was hospitalised. They planned to co-direct but Edmondson took on the duties himself.

Early life

Mayall, the second of four children, was born in Harlow, Essex to John and Gillian Mayall. He has an older brother, Anthony, and two younger sisters, Libby and Kate. When Mayall was three years old, he and his parents—who taught drama—moved to Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, where he spent the rest of his childhood and performed in his parents’ plays. After attending The King’s School, Worcester, Mayall went to the Victoria University of Manchester in 1976 to study drama, where he befriended his future comedy partner Ade Edmondson. He also met Ben Elton and Lise Mayer, with whom he later co-wrote The Young Ones.

Career

Edmondson and Mayall gained their reputation at the Comedy Store, from 1980. The double act, "20th Century Coyote", became popular. Mayall also developed solo routines using characters such as Kevin Turvey and a pompous anarchist poet named Rick. This led to Edmondson and Mayall, along with Comedy Store compere Alexei Sayle and other upcoming comedians including Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, French and Saunders, Arnold Brown and Pete Richens, to set up their own comedy club called "The Comic Strip" in the Raymond Revue Bar, a strip club. Mayall’s popularity led to a regular slot for Kevin Turvey on A Kick Up the Eighties, first broadcast in 1981. He appeared as "Rest Home" Ricky in Richard O’Brien’s Shock Treatment, sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He played Dentonvale’s resident attendant as the love interest to Nell Campbell’s Nurse Ansalong.