Rik Mayall was happy and healthy in the hours before his death, according to his Comic Strip Presents colleague Peter Richardson, whose son was one of the last people to see the actor alive.
Peter, who directed Rik in a series of TV shows, said the 56-year-old was "such a star".
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that his son saw him around half an hour before he died at his London home.
He said: "He was happily chatting away and it was very quick and we still don't quite know what happened but it was a seizure of some sort."
Rik, who leaves his wife, Barbara, and three children, Rosie, Sidney and Bonnie, survived an almost fatal quad bike accident in 1998 which left him in a coma for several days.
Peter said: "He had 16 years after the quad bike and at the time I don't think people thought he would survive that but he lived for another 16 years and it was just shocking that he went - he was so happy and seemed very healthy when he did go."
Rik shot to fame playing poetry-writing anarchist Rick in The Young Ones, and enjoyed a glittering career which saw him appear in Britain's best-loved shows including Blackadder and Bottom.
Peter said the star "loved playing the bad boy", but was very different in real life.
He said: "He always wanted to be a rebel but in fact was a lovely family man who did the washing up and was just a very warm person and not as selfish and vain as he liked to make out really."
Close friend and long-time collaborator Adrian Edmondson led the tributes to Rik, saying he felt privileged to have shared "carefree stupid days" with him at Manchester University, where the pair studied.
He said: "There were times when Rik and I were writing together when we almost died laughing. They were some of the most carefree stupid days I ever had, and I feel privileged to have shared them with him. And now he's died for real. Without me. Selfish b*****d."
Stephen Fry, who also starred in Blackadder, said on Twitter: "Simply distraught to hear of the death of Rik Mayall. An authentic comedy genius and a prince among men."
Ben Elton, who was also a university friend of Rik, said: "I owe him so much. He changed my life utterly when he asked me to co-write The Young Ones with him and he was with me on the day I met my wife. He always made me cry with laughter, now he's just made me cry."
Mayall's Young Ones co-star, Nigel Planer, told the BBC he was "very, very sad and upset that we've lost Rik, who was inspirational, bonkers, and a great life force".
He described Rik as "a brilliant comedian and someone who made everyone else's lives more fun. He will be really, really missed".
Student Rick in The Young Ones - a pompous wannabe anarchist who loved Cliff Richard - was one of Mayall's best-known characters.
Sir Cliff, who in 1986 recorded a charity version of his hit single Living Doll with the show's cast for Comic Relief, paid tribute to Rik, saying : "I became a fan of his when he was in The Young Ones show and was always thrilled when he used my name during his series.
"I am so sad at his parting."
It is not yet known what caused Mayall's unexpected death and his wife Barbara Robbin - who is understood to have found his body at their home in Barnes, south west London - told the Daily Mirror she had no idea what had caused his death and would have to wait for a coroner's report.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said officers were called by London Ambulance Service to a house in Barnes where "a man, aged in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene".
He added that the death was not believed to be suspicious.
Rik was born in Harlow, Essex, to drama teacher parents and launched his comedy career on stage in a duo, The Dangerous Brothers, with Ade Edmondson.
He also appeared as the swashbuckling Lord Flashheart in Blackadder and played the conniving Conservative MP Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article