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Comedian Sean Lock, best known for panel shows 8 Out Of 10 Cats and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, has died aged 58, his agent told the PA news agency.

Lock, also known for the sitcom 15 Storeys High, died from cancer.

A statement from his agent Off The Kerb Productions said: “It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Sean Lock.

“He died at home from cancer, surrounded by his family.”

The statement added: “Sean was one of Britain’s finest comedians, his boundless creativity, lightning wit and the absurdist brilliance of his work, marked him out as a unique voice in British comedy.

“Sean was also a cherished husband and father to three children.

“Sean will be sorely missed by all that knew him.”

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The world of comedy has paid tribute to Lock, including his friend comedian Lee Mack, who said: “I’ve known this day was coming for some time, but it’s no less heartbreaking.

Sean Lock performing in 2006
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Sean Lock performing at the annual Teenage Cancer Trust’s benefit week in 2006 at the Royal Albert Hall

“A true original both in comedy and life. I will miss him so much.”

John Bishop described Lock as a “great person” and Bill Bailey said he was a “wonderful” comic.

“It’s heartbreaking to lose my dearest friend Sean Lock, he was a true original, a wonderful comic. All my thoughts are with his family,” Bailey tweeted.

The TV star, who was known for his surreal content and deadpan style, has been a team captain on Jimmy Carr’s comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats and the spin-off 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown since 2005.

In 2010, Lock appeared alongside Katherine Jenkins on the Graham Norton Show
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In 2010, Lock appeared alongside Katherine Jenkins on the Graham Norton Show

He was one of the team captains for the first 18 years, alongside host Jimmy Carr, Jason Manford and Jon Richardson.

Lock exited the show in 2015 and was replaced by Rob Beckett.

He was born in Woking, Surrey and began working on building sites in the early 1980s but developed skin cancer which he blamed on over-exposure to the sun.

He made a full recovery and focused on a career in comedy.

Lock was known for his appearances on popular panel shows, including 8 Out Of 10 Cats
Image:
Lock was known for his appearances on popular panel shows, including 8 Out Of 10 Cats

His early professional TV appearance was in 1993, starring alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel on Newman And Baddiel In Pieces.

In 1998, he script-edited Is It Bill Bailey? on BBC Two and had his own show called 15 Minutes of Misery on BBC Radio 4, which later expanded into 15 Storeys High.

The show was set in a tower block and centred on a pessimistic character called Vince (played by Lock) and his flatmate Errol, played by Benedict Wong.

Lock also appeared on panel shows including Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It’s All Over.

Lock performing during Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Ball in 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall
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Lock performing during Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Ball in 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall

In 2000 he won best live stand-up at the British Comedy Awards.

In 2006, Lock presented and produced TV Heaven, Telly Hell on Channel 4, where guests discussed their likes and dislikes about TV.

At the time, Lock spoke to the PA news agency and he said: “I think one of my all-time favourite shows is Catchphrase with Roy Walker. I loved it.

“I used to like Roy’s restraint, because, for a comedian, the opportunity to take the mick out of some of the ridiculous answers could have been too hard to resist.”

Guest appearances included Alan Davies, Johnny Vaughan, David Mitchell, Bailey, Johnny Vegas and Nick Hancock.

Fellow comedians, Richard Osman, Eddie Izzard and Davies paid tribute to Lock on Twitter.

Osman described Lock as a “unique and brilliant comic voice”, Izzard said he “brought a wonderful comedic talent to the world” and Davies, who met Lock at the start of their careers in 1988, said he was “funny on stage, hilarious off”.

He was married to Anoushka Nara Giltsoff and had three children with the comedian.

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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F cast Kevin Bacon, John Ashton and Judge Reinhold on the long-awaited sequel

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Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F cast Kevin Bacon, John Ashton and Judge Reinhold on the long-awaited sequel

For fans of Beverly Hills Cop, ending the Eddie Murphy-led franchise on part three seemed less than favourable.

Despite the film including a cameo from Star Wars’ George Lucas, it excluded one of the main characters, John Taggart, and received lacklustre reviews from fans.

Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
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Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix

Now, not only does John Ashton’s character make a return to the franchise in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, but the film also gives a sly nod to its previous errors.

Chatting to Sky News, Judge Reinhold notes the on-screen recognition alongside his co-star Ashton.

“Do you remember reading that line where [Joseph Gordon-Levitt] references it? He says, ’94 wasn’t a great year for you’ in the movie?

“I didn’t notice that until I saw it [in the script]. That’s funny”.

The cop duo of John Taggart (played by Ashton) and Billy Rosewood (played by Reinhold) are reunited in the Netflix film.

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Recreating a moment from the 1985 original, it was the first time Murphy, Reinhold and Ashton shared the screen together since the second film premiered in 1987.

“That was the first time we’d seen each other in a long time. We were two blocks away from the original location in 84. It was wild,” says Reinhold.

“Jerry Bruckheimer was there and the crew, they were especially quiet. It’s like it was kind of spooky for them. We’d walked out of their collective past or out of a book or something because they were so young when they’d seen it”.

He adds: “It feels like when the three of us are together, something good is going to happen.”

Chiming in, Ashton says it felt special for both the cast and crew.

“One crew guy said to me, ‘I was eight years old when the first one came out and seeing you guys back in the car is giving me the chills’.”

Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
Image:
Pic: Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix

Newcomers to the cop comedy include Joseph Gordon Levitt as Axel Foley’s new sidekick and Kevin Bacon as the villain, Captain Grant.

‘We all have a little darkness in our soul’

Bacon also takes on a villainous role in his next movie, Maxxxine, which is out just a few days after Beverly Hills Cop.

“They’re both really fun and really, really different. I have a job where I can go and be a slick, well-dressed, well-groomed, you know, smiling jack of a Beverly Hills cop.

“And then a few months later go and be whoever that guy is that they scraped off the bottom of the barrel for Maxxxine.”

He adds: “There is a therapeutic aspect to it for sure, because we all have a little bit of darkness in our soul.”

The original Beverly Hills Cop was first released a year after Bacon’s breakthrough role in the Oscar-nominated Footloose.

Pic: Netflix
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Pic: Netflix

The American star says that moment in time felt like a whirlwind to him.

‘Laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my face’

“I was introduced to Beverly Hills in a different way because I had starred in Footloose.

“I’d probably been to California a few times before, but Beverly Hills was something that I was kind of watching from a distance. And, after Footloose came out, people would take me to dinner in Beverly Hills – it was like a little bit different.”

Turning to Beverly Hills Cop, he says Murphy is a force of nature.

“I happened to be on a plane the other day, and I dipped into one of his old comedy specials.

“It just kind of came up on my YouTube feed and I was on this plane trying my best to not disturb the passengers around me. But tears were rolling down my face and I was laughing so hard.

“And it’s funny because I thought to myself, oh, that’s right, Eddie was an incredible, is an incredible comedian. Because, you know, when I go to work with an actor, I think about the scene, you know, of course he’s funny.

“And of course, he’s going to be throwing stuff out there and improvising and everything, but it’s really about relating to him as an actor, not as a funny man.”

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is streaming on Netflix now.

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Jamie Foxx reveals details of ‘medical emergency’ that left him in hospital

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Jamie Foxx reveals details of 'medical emergency' that left him in hospital

Jamie Foxx has revealed some of the details behind the “medical emergency” that left him in hospital last year.

The Oscar-winning star was filmed chatting to fans in downtown Phoenix, appearing to answer a question about his mystery health scare.

In the short video, shared on TikTok by a fan called Dr Brenda Combs, Foxx can be seen wearing white shorts and a black T-shirt outside a café.

The 56-year-old said: “April 11 last year, bad headache, I asked my boy for an Advil,” then clicking his fingers went on, “I was gone for 20 days. I don’t remember anything.”

He then explained: “So, they told me, I’m in Atlanta, they told me, my sister and my daughter, they took me to the first doctor.

“Next doctor said, ‘Something going on up there’, at which point Foxx points up to his head.

He concluded, “I won’t say it on camera,” looking towards the person filming him talking.

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The Django Unchained star was reportedly taken ill in Atlanta while filming a movie with Cameron Diaz called Back In Action.

Corinne Foxx and Jamie Foxx arrive at the premiere of "pider-Man: No Way Home
Pic:AP
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Jamie Foxx with his daughter Corinne in 2021. Pic:AP

In December, he made his first big public appearance after coming out of hospital, appearing at the Critics Choice awards where he was honoured with a Vanguard Award for his performance in comedy-drama The Burial.

‘I did go to hell and back’

While accepting the award Foxx told the audience he had been unable to walk during his illness, and the fight for his health had given him “a new respect for life… [and] for my art”.

He has maintained a relatively low profile during his recovery, but speaking in a video shared with fans last summer he said he went “to hell and back” while being treated in hospital.

He said: “I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through.”

The actor, comedian and singer added that he would rather fans see him “laughing, having a good time, partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie”.

Foxx, who scooped up awards for playing Ray Charles in the 2004 film Ray, also said his sister Deidra and daughter Corinne had saved his life.

He also debunked claims he had been blinded or paralysed during his illness.

Last May, Foxx announced he would become the host of a US musical game show, We Are Family, alongside his daughter Corinne, due to air later this year on the Fox network.

Back In Action, the movie he was filming when he fell ill, is due out in November.

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Pearl Jam cancel more tour dates due to illness

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Pearl Jam cancel more tour dates due to illness

Pearl Jam have cancelled two more tour dates due to illness, after pulling out of a London gig last week.

The rock group had been due to play in Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday but called it off because “the band has yet failed to make a full recovery”.

The type of illness, or which band members have been affected, has not been revealed.

They said tickets would be refunded at point of purchase, adding that while they wished “a reschedule had been possible for this tour leg” they “hope to come back to Berlin soon”.

On Friday, they cancelled their Tottenham Hotspur Stadium show scheduled for Saturday night due to illness in the band, saying they had “no other option”.

The band said in a statement shared on Instagram: “We are sorry to share that the Pearl Jam concerts scheduled for Tuesday, July 2nd and Wednesday, July 3rd in Berlin are cancelled.

“Despite everyone’s best efforts, the band has yet to make a full recovery.”

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They went on: “The impacts of this decision are not lost on us. We feel deeply that so many people spend their time, money, and emotional energy to get tickets and then to come see the band and it is heart wrenching to have to disappoint you.

“We also appreciate the many people whose hard work goes into making these shows happen.”

“Please trust we never take these decisions lightly and try to do everything possible to show up for you all.”

The statement concluded: “Thank you for continued understanding and support, it means the world.”

32nd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony - Show – New York City, U.S., 07/04/2017 – Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam performs.
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Pic: Reuters

The band, which formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990, is fronted by Eddie Vedder, along with lead guitarist Mike McCready, drummer Matt Cameron, bass guitarist Jeff Ament and rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard.

They are currently touring the world to promote their latest album, Dark Matter.

Support acts include former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft and Irish indie rockers The Murder Capital.

Their next live show is currently scheduled for 6 July in Barcelona.

The band are set to launch the US leg of their tour on 26 August.

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