MUMBAI: Well-known British comedian Eric Sykes expired yesterday; he was 89.

Sykes was one of the most popular comic actors of his generation having appeared in shows in London's West End into his 80s.

He began his career writing scripts for BBC shows, co-writing 24 episodes of the classic radio comedy The Goon Show with the late Spike Milligan. He appeared in the Sykes and a sitcom about a brother and sister living together in west London, which ran in the 1960s and 1970s. He went on to write and act in theatre shows and films including an appearance in The Others starring Nicole Kidman and also in the Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Sykes also wrote scripts for Peter Sellers and other major British actors. TV star and former Monty Python member Michael Palin said Sykes was "one of the nicest, most decent men in the business and one of a kind."

Sykes was survived by his wife, Eith Eleanore Milbrandt, and his four children.