'Our days in the shop were so much fun'

Inman and Richard have been friends for years

Fans and friends have been paying tribute to actor John Inman, who has died aged 71. He was best known for playing Mr Humphries in TV comedy Are You Being Served?

His co-star in the series, Wendy Richard, spoke of her memories of him.

It was with great sadness I learned of my dear friend John Inman's passing. His partner, Ron Lynch, phoned me at 6.30am to give me the sad news.

I will always remember John in the good days. He was always immaculate, and was one of the funniest and most inventive actors I have ever worked with.

Our days in the shop together were so much fun. We were all a great team.

We did a summer season of Are You Being Served? in John's home town of Blackpool where - in spite of it being one of the hottest summers ever - we played to packed houses, twice nightly, for four months.

John was truly on the crest of the wave. He took Mr Humphries around the world.

He will always be remembered for making us laugh Wendy Richard

The real Mr Grace, from Australia's Grace Brothers store, even gave John his own staff key!

John was a typical Cancerian - a great homebody, a good cook and an excellent host.

He never forgot his old friends, and birthdays were a joy at his house, where we would sit and reminisce about the old days.

He was a brilliant pantomime dame - he used to make his own costumes in the early days, and would study all the most popular ads at the time to work into his gags, such as the Honey Monster.

He was a good straight actor as well as a comedic one.

He will always be remembered for making us laugh, which is a good thing.

He will be greatly missed not just by his friends, who loved him dearly, but also by his legion of fans on both sides of the Atlantic.