Comedian Eddie Large has died at the age of 78, after contracting coronavirus.
Eddie – real name Edward Hugh McGinnis – was best known as one half of the comedy duo Little And Large, alongside fellow comic Syd Little.
He died in hospital, where he had been admitted for heart failure, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
His agent told PA News: “His family were very sad not to be able to be in the same room as him, touching him, in the last week because of coronavirus.
“They were only able to speak on the phone which was obviously very sad for them.
“But they wanted to say thank you to the NHS which was fantastic throughout.”
In a Facebook post, his son Ryan wrote: “Dad had fought bravely for so long. Due to this horrible disease we had been unable to visit him at the hospital but all of the family and close friends spoke to him every day.”
“We will miss him terribly and we are so proud of everything that he achieved in his career with Syd and know that he was much loved by the millions that watched them each week.
“RIP Dad. We love you and miss you, from all the family.”
Little And Large began their TV career in the early 1970s, first appearing on the variety talent search Opportunity Knocks, and later landed their own sketch series The Little And Large Show.
Their show ran for 11 series between 1978 and 1991, with the duo also appearing in the ITV impressions show Who Do You Do?, alongside a host of other British stars.
In more recent years, Eddie appeared as himself on TV shows like Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Pointless Celebrities and All Star Mr & Mrs.
His final on-screen role was in 2010, appearing in an episode of the BBC comedy series Dappers.