Del Boy creator John Sullivan dies at 64

Published on Saturday 23 April 2011 13:24

JOHN Sullivan, the creator one of the best-loved British sitcoms, Only Fools and Horses, has died at the age of 64.

He had been in intensive care for six weeks in a Surrey hospital, battling viral pneumonia.

Sullivan also wrote Citizen Smith - starring Robert Lindsay - and Just Good Friends, and the third and final episode of his latest work Rock & Chips will be shown on BBC1 on Thursday. Sir David Jason, who played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, said: "We have lost our country's greatest comedy writer but he leaves us a great legacy, the gift of laughter.

"My thoughts at this time are with his lovely family."

BBC director general Mark Thompson said: "John had a unique gift for turning everyday life and characters we all know into unforgettable comedy."

Gareth Gwenlan, a producer of Only Fools and Horses, said Sullivan's widow Shirley was "obviously devastated" and had her family around her.

The Corporation's head of comedy Mark Freeland added: "No-one understood what made us laugh and cry better than John Sullivan.

"He was the Dickens of our generation. Simply the best, most natural, most heartfelt comedy writer of our time."

Stephen Fry said he was "terribly saddened" by the news and described Sullivan on Twitter as "one of the great comedy writers of our time".

Only Fools and Horses ran from 1981 to 2002 and was regularly voted the greatest British sitcom. Sullivan was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to drama.