There'll never be another. Max Miller constantly used to tell his audiences that, and he was right.

The comic, who spent most of his life in Brighton, topped bills in music halls for the best part of half a century.

Known as The Cheeky Chappie, he was acknowledged to be the quickest and sharpest stand-up comedian in the business.

But Max knew when he died, 38 years ago, music hall would die with him and so it did.

It is hard to convey through reproducing his patter, or showing a few films in which he was not at his best, quite how powerful his image could be.

But he still has enough appeal for there to be a flourishing appreciation society based in Brighton, where he was born.

Comedians as far apart as Ken Dodd and Max Bygraves (who named himself after Miller) still acknowledge their debt to the greatest comic of them all. It's the Max factor.

Playwright John Osborne and actor Lord Olivier were among his fans and he was widely believed to be the model for Archie Rice in Osborne's The Entertainer starring Olivier, although this was denied at the time.

Miller was born Thomas Henry Sargent back in 1894.

He served in the First World War and, in 1919, started a long showbiz career in a seaside concert party with Jack Sheppard's Entertainers in Brighton.

The young comedian quickly made his mark and he soon married a contralto called Kathleen Marsh. A woman with a shrewd business brain, it was she who decided to rename him Max Miller.

Kathleen was from a much more celebrated Brighton family than the Sargents. Her brother Ernest was a Labour councillor in the town for 43 years and became mayor in 1949.

While Max was jaunty and jolly on the stage, he was ruled at home by Kathleen, who was in charge of his business affairs.

She borrowed the Cheeky Chappie description from a review and used it on his bills.

She wrote his letters and handled his fan mail.

Max always said a good deal of success was due to her and he referred to her as Mum. But for the first 20 years of their marriage he was frightened of her too.

He was so domesticated, in many of his contracts he had a clause written that he must be able to take the last train back to Brighton.

This meant even though Max was invariably top of the bill in London variety theatres, he had to appear early in the second half instead of at the end.

Unlike many stars, he had few close friends and did not attend parties. Max dressed in a quiet and modest style which was in stark contrast to the outrageous suits, plus fours, black and white co-respondent shoes and huge kipper ties and hats he wore on stage.

His greatest success came between the wars, especially in the Thirties when he succeeded George Robey, another comedian with Brighton connections, as the top comic in the country.

Max appeared in the Royal Variety Performance in 1931. He started to make films and he also appeared on radio.

He moved around Brighton, living at various times near the seafront and at Ovingdean. He also took a property at Kingston Buci, Shoreham.

Max was the highest-paid variety entertainer in Britain during this period but he had a widespread reputation for being mean.

To some extent this was justified, because after a performance he would always get someone else to buy a round of drinks.

But he was quietly generous to many charities, particularly those involving the blind and partially sighted.

During the Second World War, he was too old to serve in the Forces but did great work in entertaining the public.

Max appeared at theatres in London, often at the height of the bombing raids.

But by the time the war was over, Max was well into middle age and times were changing. Like many other comics, he started a slow but noticeable decline.

He was always welcome in his home town of Brighton where he often appeared at the Hippodrome.

He survived professionally long enough to have made a record with king of skiffle Lonnie Donegan and to have seen the Beatles reach their peak.

When Max died in 1963, he left less than £28,000 in his will, a major surprise in view of his frugal habits and great earning power.

His left his house in Burlington Street, Kemp Town, to his widow and a villa in Hove to his sister.

But the biggest shock was a bequest of £7,000 to Ann Graham, whom he described as his song-writing partner.

It turned out that in London she had been his constant companion for the last 20 years but everyone had managed to keep that from his wife.

Although Max had apparently been as devoted to Kathleen as in the early years, she no longer exercised the iron control of the past. As so often, Max had the last laugh.

Max was always depicted as a dirty comic who went too far. Indeed he was banned at one time by the BBC.

But most of those who saw Max testified the skill of his act was built mainly on innuendo.

Miserly with his gags, he stretched them out and often never came to the denouement, leaving it in the minds of the audience.

He always asked audiences whether they wanted gags from the blue book or the white book. Naturally they chose the blue book, which was in fact empty but it all added to his saucy reputation.

His catch phrases such as Now There's a Funny Thing and You Can't Help Liking Him still resonate today.

But then, to use another Millerism, it was all clever stuff, no rubbish.

The Max Miller Appreciation Society is three years old and dedicated to the memory of the great comedian.

It is pressing for Brighton and Hove City Council to name a street or a building after him. Millers Road in Brighton does not count.

Most of all, it wants to raise a statue somewhere in the city to Max. It has raised £2,000 towards the estimated cost of £50,000.

Former chairman Mick Toner said: "It could be on the seafront or at the railway station, which he used a lot.

"There are still plenty of people who remember Max and who are fond of him."

Broadcaster John Henty has been elected as the new chairman.

The society has 300 members and while many are from the Brighton area, there are supporters all over the world.

It has produced an updated version of his blue book with plenty of timeless jokes and all proceeds go towards the statue fund.

Contributions towards the statue should be sent to the Max Miller Appreciation Society, c/o Vic Chapman, 248 Dyke Road, Brighton, BN1 5AE.