COMEDIAN Rod Hull was a TV star famous across the world for his antics with Emu.

But to the people of the quiet Sussex village he called home he was simply one of the locals.

As the world of showbusiness paid tribute to him they spoke of the man they regarded as one of their own.

Rod, 63, was trying to adjust the television aerial on the roof of Crutches Farm bungalow, in Hastings Road, Winchelsea, near Rye, when he slipped and fell through the roof of his conservatory.

He was trying to get a better picture as he watched Wednesday night's coverage of Manchester United's clash with Inter Milan.

Rod had lived in the building owned by the National Trust for more than four years after being made bankrupt.

Small and cluttered, it lies at the end of a footpath surrounded by fields and sheep.

He shared the isolated house with his 19-year-old son Oliver, who was being comforted there today.

As news of Rod's death spread his relatives around the world started making plans to return to make funeral arrangements and mourn the loss of the comedian.

Oliver's mum, Cher, and brother Toby, 23, are flying from Sydney, Australia, to be with their teenage son and brother.

Son-in-law Philip Davidson arrived at Rod's home yesterday with grieving daughter, 37-year-old Debbie.

Philip spoke of Rod with affection saying: "He was a crazy man. He lived crazy and he died crazy. Rod was a character. We are all going to miss him.

"It was pitch black and Rod didn't know what he was doing and we know what happened next."

The people of Winchelsea and nearby Icklesham will remember Rod as a quiet man who enjoyed a leisurely pint in his local pub or whiled away an afternoon in a quaint tea shop. He always told them if he had a pantomime coming up.

David Callaghan, 43, landlord of the Queens Head where Rod drank three or four times a week, often with his son Oliver, said he had been in the pub on the afternoon of his death.

David said: "He was a very, very nice man. He was quite witty as you would expect and it is a very sad day.

"Rod wanted to restart his career as a director of kids' programmes and rarely spoke of his Emu days. He didn't really want to talk about it and never overplayed who he was.

"Rod would come in and have a chat with the locals who were his friends and he was a member of the pub's boules team."

Barman Ian Curry, 23, said: "The Pink Windmill was my favourite programme when I was a kid. But Rod tried to forget about those days when he came to the pub.

"People would come up to the bar and ask us if it was Rod Hull in the corner. We would always say it wasn't so he wouldn't get hassled.

"He always had Guiness and was not a heavy drinker."

Just last week the BBC interviewed Rod and the Archbishop of Liverpool about their faith.

Rod was a regular worshipper in the pews of the village church of All Saints with St Nicolas.

Rodney and Wendy Harris, owners of Tea Tree rooms in Winchelsea, recalled Rod fondly, saying: "It was against the no smoking policy, but he would always come in with his wooden pipe.

"He used to come in every two or three weeks but I never heard him talk about Emu. He was a pleasure to serve as you never knew what he was going to say next."

The whereabouts of his famed troublesome puppet Emu remains a mystery.

Neighbour Mary Carmichael, of the Country House hotel, said: "They were good neighbours but they kept themselves to themselves. It's a tragic thing to happen."

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