Loved comedian John Bird passed away at the age of 86, to the outpouring of tributes from other celebrities.
Rory Bremner, Bird’s friend and comedy partner, announced his passing and praised him as “one of our great satirists.”
Bremner wrote: “It’s an irony that one of our greatest satirists, so brilliant at portraying ministers, civil servants or high-ranking officials who exuded self-satisfaction, was himself so modest and self-effacing.
“John Bird was, to the end, never pleased with himself, always feeling he should have done better, been less lazy, had a late period like Brahms, ‘where everything was spare and abstract’.
“The reality was that he and his friend and collaborator John Fortune, together with Peter Cook, were pillars of the anti-establishment.”
Through the Channel 4 sketch series Bremner, Bird, and Fortune, which ran from 1999 to 2010, Bird gained recognition alongside Fortune and Bremner.
Bremner continued by stating that it was “interesting” that Bird had passed away on Christmas Eve, “nine years, almost to the day” after Fortune had died on 2013’s New Year’s Eve.
He added: “Lord knows, satire has missed them this last decade and now that loss is permanent.
“John may not have felt he got his life right, but by God he got it written.”
Four Bafta nominations for Bird and Fortune resulted in one 1997 victory.
Additionally, the trio worked together on the BBC programmes Now Something Else and The Rory Bremner Show.
During this time, Bird made appearances on comedy programmes including Yes, Prime Minister and One Foot in the Grave as well as in the movie Jabberwocky.
