The series won best comedy Bafta awards in 2000 and 2007.
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Aherne, who starred in Mrs Merton and The Royle Family, suffered from cancer, her publicist said. “My thoughts and love are with her family and friends”.
These characters were duly introduced to us in the halcyon days of comedy in Manchester, particularly the infamous Buzz club, then working together with Steve Coogan on The Dead Good Show.
“A character. A legend”.
“She was an incredibly amusing woman on and off screen, whose raw talent and “funny bones” never failed to make me roar with laughter”. A boss. A writer.
Later, he referred to Aherne as a “genius and a friend with a big, big heart”.
Caroline, who had been a smoker, fought depression and drink problems over the years.
According to the paper, Caroline’s family found out her cancer was terminal two months ago, after she was first diagnosed in 2014, and she had been doted on by her mother in recent times. “Loved you Caroline Aherne”, she said.
The daughter of a railwayman and a school dinner lady, Aherne split with husband Peter Hook, guitarist with pop group New Order and house musician on the Mrs Merton Show, in April 1996.
As soon as the news of her passing from lung cancer broke on Saturday, British TV personalities and musicians rushed to honour her memory. Caroline was once a prolific smoker but said she had since given it up, saying the disease was not linked to her former habit. Her father was a railway worker and alcoholic.
He told British newspaper the Sunday Mirror, “I’m so bl**dy shocked”.
She wasn’t political, she never saw herself as a feminist or representing the minority of female comics.
“Things like The Office would not have happened so quickly had it not been for the Royle Family – I’m not saying it would have never happened – it would have eventually – but she paved the way and showed people that it would work”. “She never flagged in work and the atmosphere when she was writing and acting was brilliant”.
Noel Gallagher, a fellow Manchunian and long-time friend of Aherne’s, used Instagram to pay respect to his friend of over 20 years, posting a photo of the star with the caption “RIP Kaz…I shall sing for you tonight”. A little bag of goodies and a Lottery ticket for everyone. “This is the first time she’s made me cry without laughing”. We can’t even begin to explain how much The Royle Family shaped us growing up and how we still to this day quote the show when we’re sprawled out on a couch with our respective families.
The comedian and TV writer passed away in Timperley, Greater Manchester, after a battle with cancer.
‘I know Caroline would want everybody to be happy and not sad and I think we should now remember the comedy legacy that she has left for us.
Caroline became a national treasure in the 1990s when she played the mischievous, twinkly-eyed, blue-rinse chat show host Mrs Merton.
“Who can blame her?”
He wrote in The Sun newspaper: “I was just some skinny, big-nosed teenager plucked out of nowhere, but Caroline was this superstar”.
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Caroline Aherne died alone at her home because her family didn’t know she’d taken a sudden turn for the worse. “She was just a real laugh to be around”.
