RIP Mel Smith (1953-2013)

A brief tribute to a lost legend of English comedy whose legacy will be great.
With a heavy heart, we are sad to report the passing of British comedian and actor Mel Smith that occurred last week. While this writer's personal proximity to Mel's work in his time with us was fairly minor, it nevertheless rightly falls to us to still pay a tribute of sorts to a man who will be eternally missed by fans the nation over.

Undoubtedly, Mel's career as a comic, an actor and as an overall member of the entertainment industry was illustrious. The star was famed for his work on Not the Nine O'Clock News, Smith and Jones, Comic Relief and his direction of the Rowan Atkinson movie Bean, which of course means that a whole variety of fanbases and followers will have been deeply affected by this loss. Those close to Mel have recently stated that as a 'celebrity', this was a man who was extremely humble, so we can only hope that he was at least aware of the level of passion and enthusiasm he had inspired in a great deal of viewers.

I'll leave you with a few comments from Mel's closest celebrity comedian colleagues who had the pleasure of meeting and working with him during his lifetime. Griff Rhys Jones called Mel "a force for life", noting that he had "a relish for life that seemed utterly inexhaustible". Perhaps our finest testament to this lost British cult legend comes from his co-star Rowan: "He had a wonderfully generous and sympathetic presence both on and off screen."

My thoughts and prayers go out to Mel's family and friends in this incredibly difficult time. As a final note, to once again represent the huge impact on comedy Mel had, I've placed a video of his hilarious gorilla press interview sketch below for your viewing delight.