Actor and comedian John Bird has died aged 86, his representatives have confirmed. Let’s see more details about John bird and his cause of death in detail.
Who was John Bird?
John Bird was an English satirist, actor, and comedian, known for his work in television satire, including many appearances with John Fortune. The actor and comedian were best known for his work with John Fortune and Rory Bremner in the TV series Bremner, Bird, and Fortune, performing witty sketches that mocked politicians and public figures.
RIP John Bird. Brilliant satirist, even better comedy actor. This is one of my favourite performances, from the long-forgotten sitcom, Paris. pic.twitter.com/JGzk4RE7X3
— Lemon Curry (@TheRealMcGack) December 28, 2022
Early Life of John Bird and Booming of his Carrier
John Bird was born in Bulwell, Nottingham, and attended High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham. While studying at King’s College, Cambridge, he met John Fortune.
Bird became well known during the television satire boom of the 1960s, appearing in That Was The Week That Was, the title of which was coined by Bird.
The bird was intended by Ned Sherrin for David Frost’s role in the series but was committed elsewhere. He also appeared in the television programs . Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, If It Moves File It, Dangerous Brothers, A Very Peculiar Practice, and My Father Knew Lloyd George, as well as in The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball
John Bird’s Acting Career
In various television shows and motion pictures, including Red and Blue (1967), A Dandy in Aspic (1968), Cynthia (1968), This, That, and the Other (1969), Take A Girl Like You (1970), Jabberwocky (1977), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), and Yellow Pages, Bird played straight and comedic roles (1988). Bird played the lead role on a well-known album (The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin) based on Alan Coren’s anti-Idi Amin Punch columns that were released in the 1970s, at the height of Idi Amin’s notoriety.
In the 1975 film The Melting Pot, Bird played Mr. Rembrandt, who was referred to as “Van Gogh’s son, likewise an illegal [Pakistani] immigrant.” This was a sitcom written by Spike Milligan and Neil Shand, which was canceled by the BBC after just one episode had been broadcast.
In a Silk Cut cigarette television commercial from 1979, Bird appeared as an African Chief while wearing blackface. Dennis Potter’s 1979 radio play Blue Remembered Hills, Bird portrayed Raymond, a jittery child who stutters.
In a 1988 broadcast of the BBC situation comedy Yes, Prime Minister, he played the British National Theatre’s Director. He appeared in the 16-episode bank sitcom Joint Account during the 1989–1990 season opposite Hannah Gordon.
When he assumed the part of Mr. Humphrey Atkins, the roguish father of Marmalade Atkins (played by Charlotte Coleman), for Thames Television from 1981 to 1984, Bird made his imprint in the world of children’s entertainment.
Rory Bremner pays tribute to John Bird as ‘one of the greatest satirists’ https://t.co/FzjOjrvvax
— Richard Woodward (@WoodwardRJ) December 28, 2022
Awards and Recognitions
In addition, Bird appeared in one episode of One Foot in the Grave and three episodes of Jonathan Creek, both of which were written by David Renwick. He also appeared in Renwick’s 2016 Desolation Jests BBC Radio 4 program.
His collaboration with John Fortune and Rory Bremner on the multi-award-winning project Bremner, Bird, and Fortune made him well-known in the UK. In the John Fortune sketches known as The Long Johns, one of the two men would interview the other while posing as a senior individual, such as a politician, businessperson, or government adviser, and he would always go by the name George Parr.
For one of these sketches (“The Last Laugh”), which was recorded for The South Bank Show and broadcast on 14 October 2007, they were afterward credited with having been among the first to predict the seriousness of the financial crisis of 2007–2008
Cause of death
John Bird died peacefully on Christmas Eve aged 86 according to his representatives. Bremner said it was “striking” Bird had died on Christmas Eve “nine years, almost to the day” after Fortune, who died aged 74 on New Year’s Eve in 2013.
A statement announcing Bird’s death said he died “peacefully” at Pendean care home . A family funeral will be followed by a celebration of his life in the new year.
Ah dammit. John Bird has left us. One of the funniest men I've ever seen, an absolute master of satire, and hugely important in British comedy. What a sad day. pic.twitter.com/U8LzXiltiu
— Russ Jones (@RussInCheshire) December 28, 2022
Tributes Posted on Social Media
Bird’s co-star Rory lead tributes as he praised “one of our great satirists”.
He tweeted: “Deeply saddened to hear that the great John Bird has left us. One of the most modest of men and most brilliant of satirists. And one of the last surviving pillars of the anti-establishment.”
He added: “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.
Deeply saddened to hear that the great John Bird has left us. One of the most modest of men and most brilliant of satirists. And one of the last surviving pillars of the anti-establishment. 1/4
— Rory Bremner 💙🇺🇦 (@rorybremner) December 28, 2022
“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.”
"He had this brilliant instinct for absurdity and the sharpest of minds"
Rory Bremner pays tribute to John Bird, who's died aged 86 — and recalls the unique insights of his creation George Parr
Full interview coming up on #BBCWATO pic.twitter.com/OhvnOTYas0
— The World at One (@BBCWorldatOne) December 28, 2022
Angela Barnes Posted
Ahh RIP John Bird, you were wonderful in Bremner Bird and Fortune, Absolute Power, and other satirical shows. However, to me, and probably to others of my vintage, you will always be remembered as Marmalade Atkins’ Dad.
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