Sean Lock - comedian and star of 8 Out of 10 Cats - dies aged 58 'surrounded by family at home' after secret cancer battle: Fellow comics pay tribute to 'idol' with 'incredible comic brain' who 'quietly wrestled with illness'

The British comedy world today paid tribute to the 'truly unique voice' of Sean Lock after the much-loved 8 Out Of 10 Cats star died of cancer aged 58 surrounded by his family at home.

The comedian, known for his surreal content and deadpan style, was best known as a team captain on Jimmy Carr's popular Channel 4 comedy panel show and its spin-off 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Carr led the tributes today, saying it was 'brutal news' and that he was 'laughing and crying' while watching clips of Lock today - while his friend Lee Mack, who called him a 'true original both in comedy and life'.

Father-of-three Lock, who had two daughters and one son with his wife Anoushka, appeared on Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It's All Over - and also wrote and starred in the popular BBC sitcom 15 Storeys High.

Jon Richardson, Lock's fellow captain on 8 Out Of Ten Cats, praised his 'incredible comic brain'; Susie Dent from the Countdown version described him as an 'exceptional man'; Ricky Gervais said he was 'one of the funniest, most influential comedians of a generation'; and Alan Davies said Lock was 'funny on stage, hilarious off'.

Lock's agent labelled the Woking-born star as 'one of Britain's finest comedians', saying his 'boundless creativity, lightning wit and the absurdist brilliance of his work, marked him out as a unique voice in British comedy'.

It is not known what form of a cancer Lock had battled, but he previously made a full recovery from skin cancer which he blamed on over-exposure to the sun while working on building sites before he became a comedian.

He previously credited a one-night stand in the 1990s with saving his life, after the woman he was with spotted a black and misshapen patch of skin on his back, which he had removed in hospital and it was diagnosed as cancer.

Today, fellow comedian Harry Hill revealed Lock had spent time in a hospice, telling the Guardian: 'At his best, Sean reminded us all what we loved about a great gag and why we got into comedy in the first place.

'That's why he was so often called 'the comedian's comedian'. He took his illness in typically dry style. I heard he was in a hospice for a bit of a rest. I called him up. 'Wow!' I said. 'A hospice, what's that like?' 'It's OK,' he said '… and the sex is amazing'.'

Sean Lock performs a stand-up routine for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London in March 2006

Sean Lock appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown with Jimmy Carr, Jon Richardson, Rachel Riley and Susie Dent

'For me shoes are just a barrier between dog s*** and my socks': Sean Lock's ten best jokes

'Sean was also a cherished husband and father to three children. Sean will be sorely missed by all that knew him. We kindly request that the privacy of his family and children is respected at this difficult time.'

Carr, who worked with Sean Lock on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, said on Twitter: 'Brutal news about Sean Lock today. I loved him. I'm watching clips of him right now - laughing and crying. I'll miss him so much.'

Comedian Mack, who was a close friend, paid tribute saying: 'I've known this day was coming for some time, but it's no less heart-breaking. A true original both in comedy and life. I will miss him so much.'

And his 8 Out of Ten Cats colleague Jon Richardson said: 'I idolised Sean as a comic long before I became a comedian myself and ten years working alongside him didn't diminish that in the least.

'An incredible comic brain and a truly unique voice. I'm devastated for his family today and sad for comedy that we have lost one of the very best. Undisputed, undefeated, carrot in a box champion. I will miss him.'

Susie Dent, who worked alongside Lock on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown from 'Dictionary Corner', has also paid tribute to him.

She wrote on Twitter: 'I wish I had the words to describe the exceptional man that was Sean Lock. But today I don't, and I think he might have liked it that way.'

And Ricky Gervais said: 'Such sad news. RIP, the great Sean Lock. One of the funniest, most influential comedians of a generation. A lovely man. '

QI host Stephen Fry said: 'I think it safe to say that the best episodes of QI that I was involved with were always the ones where Sean Lock was a guest.'

A tweet from Fry added: 'Such complete brilliance in every comic direction. What a loss. My heart goes out to his family.'

Comedian Alan Davies also paid tribute to 'hilarious' Lock, writing on Twitter: 'Sad news about Sean Lock. Funny on stage, hilarious off. We met in 1988 right at the start of our stand up careers.

'I hadn't seen him in recent years as he quietly wrestled with illness but I feel very sad today for Anoushka and their children. RIP, Locky.'

Pointless host Richard Osman, who worked with Sean Lock as a producer on panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats, wrote on Twitter: 'Over 15 years producing 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Sean Lock made me laugh so much and so often. A unique and brilliant comic voice. Love to his family and his many friends.'

Eddie Izzard also paid tribute to Lock, saying: 'So sorry to hear this. Farewell Sean, you brought a wonderful comedic talent to the world and you will be missed'. Gary Lineker added: 'Awful news. Such a funny man.'

And comedian Jason Manford paid tribute to Lock, saying that he had texted the comedian 'a few weeks' prior to his death. He wrote on Twitter: 'I'm absolutely gutted about this. So heartbroken for his wife and children.

Jon Richardson, his fellow captain on 8 Out Of Ten Cats, said Lock was 'an incredible comic brain and a truly unique voice'

'One of the funniest men I've ever worked with and I used to adore occasionally making him laugh on my first proper telly job, 8 Out of 10 Cats. I texted him couple of weeks ago and I'm now so glad I did. If you've a friend who you've not spoken to for a while, drop them a message and check in. It could be the last time.'

From building sites to adored comedian, Sean Lock's journey to stardom

Sean Lock on stage at the 'We Know Where You Live. Live!' event at Wembley in June 2001

Born in Woking, Surrey, the comedy star left school in the early 1980s and began working on building sites but developed skin cancer, which he blamed on over-exposure to the sun. He made a full recovery and focused on a career in comedy.

One of his first professional TV appearances was in 1993, starring alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel on their signature TV show Newman And Baddiel In Pieces.

He script-edited the 1998 BBC Two series, Is It Bill Bailey? and had his own show on BBC Radio 4 called 15 Minutes Of Misery, which was later expanded into TV series 15 Storeys High.

The show was set in a tower block and centred on a pessimistic character called Vince (played by Lock) and his flatmate Errol, played by Benedict Wong.

In 2005 Lock became a regular team captain on the panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats, a role he held for 18 series.

Between 2006 and 2007 he hosted Channel 4 series, TV Heaven, Telly Hell, in which he invited celebrities to share their own selection of TV's triumphs and tragedies. Guests on the show included Alan Davies, Johnny Vaughan, David Mitchell, Bill Bailey, Johnny Vegas and Nick Hancock.

Speaking at the time, Lock said: 'I think one of my all-time favourite shows is Catchphrase with Roy Walker. I loved it. I used to like Roy's restraint, because, for a comedian, the opportunity to take the mick out of some of the ridiculous answers could have been too hard to resist.'

Lock also appeared on panel shows including Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It's All Over. In 2000 he won the gong for the best live stand-up at the British Comedy Awards.

And comedian David Baddiel said: 'Devastated to hear about Sean Lock. He toured with Newman and Baddiel on our last show together. One of the funniest men I ever knew.'

Presenter Gabby Logan, who has appeared alongside Sean Lock on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, paid tribute to the comedian 'who could make your cheeks ache from laughing'.

She tweeted: 'Just awful to hear the news about Sean Lock, I was lucky enough to watch his genius comedy up close when appearing on 8/10 Cats a good few times.'

She added: 'Love and light to all of his family and friends.'

Comedian Bill Bailey paid tribute, saying: 'It's heartbreaking to lose my dearest friend Sean Lock, he was a true original, a wonderful comic. All my thoughts are with his family.'

Comedian Ross Noble said: 'With the passing of Sean Lock we have lost the best of the best. He made me laugh like few others do.

'A massive talent who made stand-up look effortless and approached his illness in the same no-nonsense way he approached life. A great loss.'

And Tim Vine tweeted: 'Very sad to hear about Sean Lock. One of my absolute favourite comics. Always always made me laugh. RIP, Sean.'

Comedian Jack Whitehall tweeted: 'So sad about Sean Lock. He was such a special comedian. One of the quickest, most naturally witty people I've ever worked with. World's a less funny place without him. RIP.'

Fellow comedian and 8 Out of 10 Cats regular Joe Lycett added: 'The Sean Lock news has made me very sad. Of course his stand-up and panel show work was exemplary but 15 Storeys High is a truly beautiful thing.

'I'll really miss working with him and trying to make him laugh. A sad day for comedy.'

Rosie Jones, a comedian who has appeared with Lock on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, has said he was was the 'kindest man'. She wrote on Twitter: 'Sean was a comedic giant and one of the kindest men.

'His comic mind was incomparable and his rants were exquisite. He had time for everyone, and treated me exactly the same, from when I was a researcher to when I became an overly excitable teammate. I'll miss you Sean.'

Meanwhile a Channel 4 spokesman said: 'Incredibly sad to learn of the loss of one of our greatest comedians, Sean Lock', the channel wrote on Twitter.

'A much loved part of the C4 family he's played a huge role on the channel for over two decades, and we'll miss him. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.'

Lock appeared in a number of Channel 4 shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats and its spin-off, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, as well as TV Heaven, Telly Hell.

Tomorrow, Channel 4 will air the comedian's stand-up special, Sean Lock: Keep It Light at 10pm, followed by a classic episode of 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown at 11pm. A highlight reel of Lock's performances on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown will also be available on the All 4 streaming platform.

Channel 4 chief creative officer, Ian Katz, paid tribute to Lock in a statement describing him as 'one of the most original voices in comedy and one of the loveliest people, too'.

He added: 'Sean's bone dry wit helped make 8 Out Of 10 Cats one of Channel 4's best loved shows and we owe him a huge debt of thanks for all the years of laughter and fun.'

And a tweet from quiz show QI said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of Sean Lock's passing.

'Sean was a QI regular right from the first series, and helped to shape the show with his fantastically sharp wit and anarchic good humour. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.'

Chelsea FC also paid tribute, tweeting: 'Sean was a much-loved comedian, fan of the Blues and a regular at Stamford Bridge. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends.'

Born in Woking, Surrey, the comedy star and Chelsea FC fan left school in the early 1980s and began working on building sites but developed skin cancer, which he blamed on over-exposure to the sun. He made a full recovery and focused on a career in comedy.

One of his first professional TV appearances was in 1993, starring alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel on their signature TV show Newman And Baddiel In Pieces.

Lock made history when he became the first comedian to perform at the 12,000-capacity Wembley Arena in 1993, as the support act for Baddiel and Newman.

Comedy world mourns 'one of the very best'

The world of comedy has paid tribute to 'one of the very best' following the death of Sean Lock aged 58.

Jon Richardson, who was a team captain alongside Lock on Channel 4's 8 Out Of 10 Cats and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, said: 'I idolised Sean as a comic long before I became a comedian myself and ten years working alongside him didn't diminish that in the least. An incredible comic brain and a truly unique voice.'

In a second tweet, he wrote: 'I'm devastated for his family today and sad for comedy that we have lost one of the very best. Undisputed, undefeated, carrot in a box champion. I will miss him.'

Comedian Jason Manford said he had texted the comedian 'a few weeks' prior to his death. He wrote on Twitter: 'I'm absolutely gutted about this. So heartbroken for his wife and children. One of the funniest men I've ever worked with and I used to adore occasionally making him laugh on my first proper telly job, 8 Out of 10 Cats. I texted him couple of weeks ago and I'm now so glad I did. If you've a friend who you've not spoken to for a while, drop them a message and check in. It could be the last time.'

Channel 4, for which Lock hosted TV Heaven, Telly Hell, paid tribute on Twitter. The channel said: 'Incredibly sad to learn of the loss of one of our greatest comedians, Sean Lock. A much loved part of the C4 family he's played a huge role on the channel for over two decades, and we'll miss him. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.'

Comedian Bill Bailey paid tribute to his 'dearest friend' on Twitter. Bailey wrote: 'It's heartbreaking to lose my dearest friend Sean Lock, he was a true original, a wonderful comic. All my thoughts are with his family.'

Susie Dent, who worked with Lock on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, has said she doesn't have the words to describe the comedian after his death.

She wrote on Twitter: 'I wish I had the words to describe the exceptional man that was Sean Lock. But today I don't, and I think he might have liked it that way.'

Comedian Shappi Khorsandi said Lock was 'everyone's favourite' comedian on Twitter. She wrote: 'Everyone's favourite. No finer comic. Always exciting to work with and always so nice. My deepest condolences to all of Sean Lock's family and friends and everyone at Off The Kerb. What a huge, heartbreaking loss.'

Quiz show QI, where Lock was a regular panellist, said the comedian 'helped to shape the show with his fantastically sharp wit and anarchic good humour'.

The show tweeted: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of Sean Lock's passing. Sean was a QI regular right from the first series, and helped to shape the show with his fantastically sharp wit and anarchic good humour. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.'

Ricky Gervais described Lock as 'one of the funniest, most influential comedians of a generation', revealing that Lock had given him comedy advice early on in his career.

Gervais said on Twitter: 'First professional comedian I knew. Met him when I booked him for a gig early 90s. Told him I wouldn't mind being a comedian one day and I must have been over exited and trying to make him laugh coz he said 'can I give you some advice then', I said 'yeah'. He said, 'tone it down'.'

Pointless host Richard Osman, who worked with Lock as a producer on panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats, said: 'Over 15 years producing '8 Out Of 10 Cats' Sean Lock made me laugh so much and so often. A unique and brilliant comic voice. Love to his family and his many friends.'

Lock's good friend Lee Mack also paid tribute to him, saying in a statement: 'I've know this day was coming for some time, but it's no less heart-breaking. A true original both in comedy and life. I will miss him so much'.

He script-edited the 1998 BBC Two series, Is It Bill Bailey? and had his own show on BBC Radio 4 called 15 Minutes Of Misery, which was later expanded into TV series 15 Storeys High.

The show was set in a tower block and centred on a pessimistic character called Vince (played by Lock) and his flatmate Errol, played by Benedict Wong.

In 2005 Lock became a regular team captain on the panel show 8 Out Of 10 Cats, a role he held for 18 series.

Between 2006 and 2007 he hosted Channel 4 series, TV Heaven, Telly Hell, in which he invited celebrities to share their own selection of TV's triumphs and tragedies.

Guests on the show included Alan Davies, Johnny Vaughan, David Mitchell, Bill Bailey, Johnny Vegas and Nick Hancock.

Lock also appeared on panel shows including Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It's All Over. In 2000 he won the gong for the best live stand-up at the British Comedy Awards.

Speaking about his early life and cancer diagnosis to the Daily Mail in 2010, Lock said: 'I was 18 and had taken A-levels in Woking where I grew up. But I didn't want to go to university so left sixth-form college.

'My father was in the building industry and he found me a job stripping concrete panels off buildings. It was dangerous work on high scaffolds, sometimes 12 hours a day, Monday to Friday, and often weekends too.'

Over the next seven years he worked on building sites and gave little consideration to what he was wearing, or any possible sun damage to his skin.

He said: 'I liked the work and the wages - £340 a week, which, in 1981, was a lot of money. You could hardly ask a big Irish foreman, 'Please could you rub some Ambre Solaire on my back?' And we didn't wear hats, either. None of us took any notice of the fact that we were going red.

'Actually, I never seemed to suffer from sunburn too much but some of the guys had very pale Irish skin and were so red they must have been in agony. But they would never admit it, probably because they didn't want to be thought of as soft.'

Lock also went on holidays abroad, travelling in Europe and working on a kibbutz in Israel. He told the Mail: 'There were sunscreen products around but nobody really took any notice of factors. I'm not even sure that there were factors on the bottles back then. We just rubbed some kind of oil into our skin and fried.'

In the late 1980s Lock then started to visit comedy clubs and then began going on stage for open mic evenings. He told the Mail: 'I'd never been the class clown and comedy was not a fulfilment of a dream. But it worked for me and I seemed to go down well.'

Then in 1990, he won the British Comedy Award for Best Live Comic, with performances following at London's Royal Albert Hall and Apollo Theatre, and the Oxford Playhouse.

Lock said: 'I was in my late 20s and had been in a long-term relationship which had come to its conclusion, so I was single. But the fact is, I was with a girl called Tina one night and if I hadn't been, well, I'd be dead now. Because she noticed something about me that I hadn't.

'She said there was something weird on my back. I asked her what it looked like and she said it was a patch of skin which was black, misshapen, with a crusty texture and about the size of a 10p piece.

'I had no idea how long it had been there. It didn't hurt or itch, so there was nothing that would have drawn my attention to it. And being in the small of my back, it was not something you could easily see while looking in a mirror.'

Sean's GP in Rotherhithe, South East London, was concerned enough to make an appointment for him with a dermatologist at Guy's Hospital the following day.

'The dermatologist was fantastic,' Lock said. 'He saw me immediately and said, 'This needs to come out right now.' He gave me an injection of local anaesthetic and cut it out there and then. I felt no actual pain but there was a strange feeling of something flapping on my back - which must have been skin - as they cut out the melanoma.

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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