Mike Reid Dies aged 67

Stand-up comedian and EastEnders actor Mike Reid has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 67 in his home in Spain.

Reid, best known for his role of Frank Butcher in the BBC's long-running soap opera between 1987-2005, first began working as a stuntman. Working on films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and was even a stunt double for Roger Moore in The Saint. He then moved on to become a comic on the club circuit, where he found fame on ITV's The Comedians. In the late 1970s, Reid became the host of the children's game show Runaround. He would later make a novelty record, The Ugly Duckling.

His agent, David Hahn said the death came as a shock: "Mike was in fine fettle. In fact only a couple of weeks ago we were having dinner over here. He would see the funny side of any situation, no matter how black it was. Even now I'm sure he's laughing."

Fellow comedian Frank Carson said, "We have just lost our friend Bernard Manning a fortnight ago. I just can't realise... this is devastating news."

Another comedian, Russ Abbot described Reid as, "A very, very funny man and a great story-teller. There are certain comedians who do one-liners, you know, which bounce off each other. But Mike was a story-teller and a great deliverer of great, great jokes."