Veteran Canadian actor Roger Abbott of the CBC’s Royal Canadian Air Farce died on the weekend in Toronto after a long illness, aged 64 years.

“I’m heartbroken to tell you that our beloved friend, Roger Abbott, died last night at Toronto General Hospital, 14 years after being diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a progressive disease that he kept secret from all but a few close friends and family until a week ago,” fellow Air Farce troupe member Don Ferguson said Sunday in a statement released on the official Air Farce website.

British-born Abbott was a mainstay of Air Farce since 1973, along with Ferguson and Luba Goy, starting first on CBC Radio before the sketch comedy show migrated to the main TV network and remaining on air until 2008.

Abbott was versatile, playing among other classic characters on Air Farce Jean Chrétien, Brian Williams, Don Cherry, Yasser Arafat, Leonard Cohen and The Queen Mother.

“Roger Abbott was, quite simply, at the very heart of the CBC family,” Kirstine Stewart, executive vice-president of English services at the CBC, said in her own statement Sunday.

Photo from AirFarce.com