Sean Lock, the award-winning UK TV personality known for his appearances on panel shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, has died. His agents confirmed the news today, stating that the late comedian had been battling cancer for some time. He was 58 years old.

“It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Sean Lock. He died at home from cancer, surrounded by his family,” reads a statement from Lock’s agency, Off The Kerb Productions, per Variety. “Sean was one of Britain’s finest comedians, his boundless creativity, lightning wit and the absurdist brilliance of his work, marked him out as a unique voice in British comedy. 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.”

Lock broke into TV in the early 1990s with a role on Rob Newman and David Baddiel’s Newman And Baddiel In Pieces, snagging a role both behind and in front of the camera. He also got his own BBC Radio 4 show 15 Minutes of Misery, later spiraling into the TV series 15 Storeys High, which he acted in and wrote.

In the 2000s, Lock was nominated for a Perrier Comedy Award and won Best Live Comic at the British Comedy Awards. With his career on the rise, he became a panelist on shows like Have I Got News For You and QI, with more permanent positions on the Jimmy Carr-hosted 8 Out Of 10 Cats and its spinoff, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Lock has been battling skin cancer since the 1990s. According to the comedian, he developed cancer from his brief former career working in construction, during which he spent plenty of time exposed to the sun.

The late comedian received an outpouring of tributes following the news this morning, with words of remembrance from comedians like Ricky Gervais, Ross Noble, Diane Morgan, and more. “Such sad news,” wrote Gervais in a tweet. “RIP the great Sean Lock. One of the funniest, most influential comedians of a generation. A lovely man.”

Lock was married to Anoushka Nara Giltsoff and had two daughters and a son.

Source: NYPOST