Actor and comedian John Bird dies aged 86 in care home

Actor and comedian John Bird has died aged 86 at a care home.

He was well known for his satirical sketches and performed alongside John Fortune and Bremner in Channel 4’s show Bremner, Bird And Fortune.

Bird, who's from Bulwell in Nottinghamshire, was part of the satire boom of the 1960s, appearing in programmes such as That Was The Week That Was.

But he was perhaps best known for his work with Fortune and Rory Bremner in the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune.

The satirical show ran for 16 series, as well as one-off specials, between 1999 and 2008, and was nominated for several Bafta TV Awards.

A statement announcing Bird’s death said he died "peacefully" at Pendean care home and that a family funeral will be followed by a celebration of his life in the new year.

Comedian Rory Bremner has paid tribute to Mr Bird, saying he's "one of the greatest satirists".

Scottish impressionist Bremner, 61, 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."

Bird, born in Nottingham, went to a grammar school before going to Cambridge and meeting his comedy partner Fortune.