Monday’s death of British actor and comedian Rik Mayall happened after he suffered an “acute cardiac event” at his London home following a run, his wife said Thursday.
“He had just returned from his usual run and many people had seen him that morning,” Barbara Mayall said in a prepared statement released by his agent, Kate Benson.
Benson said earlier this week that she didn’t know the cause of death.
Rik Mayall, 56, one of the leading lights of Britain’s alternative comedy scene in the 1980s, was best known for starring roles in hit TV series “Blackadder,” “The Young Ones,” “The New Statesman” and “Bottom.”
Barbara Mayall said she and the extended family thanks “the thousands and thousands” of people who have sent condolence messages.