Veteran entertainer Keith Harris, best-known for his ventriloquist act with puppet Orville the Duck, has died of cancer aged 67.

The star had a 50-year career in showbusiness which saw him perform at birthday parties for Princes William and Harry, as well as appearing on Top of the Pops with Orville.

Celebrities, fans and politicians paid tribute to Mr Harris after he died in hospital this morning near his home in Blackpool following a two-year cancer battle which included failed stem-cell treatment.

Star: Keith Harris, pictured with his puppet Orville the Duck, has died of cancer aged 67

Family: Mr Harris at home with his fourth wife Sarah and Orville in July last year

His agent Robert C. Kelly said in a statement: 'Sad to announce death from cancer of my client, dear friend and great talent, Keith Harris.'

Mr Harris is survived by his fourth wife Sarah and his three children Skye, 27, 15-year-old Kitty and Shenton, 13.

After his death, the famous puppet Orville will be 'retired', according to Mr Kelly, who said: 'There are no plans for Orville. That's the end.'

The agent said his client spent his last months 'at his second home in Portugal, taking walks along the Blackpool seafront and sitting in the park eating ice cream and watching the world go by'.

He had his own Saturday night TV programme, The Keith Harris Show, between 1982 and 1990, making him one of the BBC's most recognisable faces.

Origins: The future star pictured at the age of 15 with one of his first puppets, known as Freddie the Frog

Early years: Mr Harris with Orville in 1979, before his Saturday night TV show on the BBC made him one of Britain's biggest stars

Orville released a single, called Orville's Song but commonly known as I Wish I Could Fly, which sold 400,000 copies in 1982.

Told in an interview that the hit had been voted the worst song ever, Mr Harris said: 'Yes, but I got a house in Portugal out of it, so what do I care?'

The star also appeared regularly on the variety show Crackerjack along with other stars of the time such as The Krankies.

Mr Harris was born in Hampshire and grew up in Chester, honing his act as an entertainer at summer camps before making his television breakthrough.

Describing how he came up with the idea for Orville, the puppet that would make him a megastar, Mr Harris said in 2002: 'I just happened to have this green fur lying about and had this idea for a little bird that was green and ugly and thought he wasn't loved.

'The first time I used him he was an instant hit. There were tears in people's eyes.'

After he performed at the Royal Variety Show in 1985, Princess Diana asked him to attend Prince William's third birthday party to entertain the young guests.

He said later: 'I arrived there and Charles came out and we had a Pimms. Diana helped me in with the boxes, she was absolutely lovely. We were asked back to do Prince Harry's third birthday, too.

'Diana sent us a lovely letter saying, "The Princess hopes that Orville did not suffer from too much bruising after the rather rough patting he received from one or two of the smaller members of the audience."'

Character: Mr Harris with Cuddles the Monkey, another of his popular puppets

Popular: Mr Harris and Orville even had a chart hit which led to an appearance on Top of the Pops

Children: Mr Harris with Sarah and their two children Kitty and Shenton; he also had another daughter from an earlier marriage

Despite his lower profile in recent years as variety entertainment faded in popularity, Mr Harris remained a cult figure among many viewers.

He made a cameo appearance on Channel 5's Big Brother in 2012, performing a stand-up routine for housemates who were forbidden to laugh.

He also toured student unions with an adult-themed show entitled 'Duck Off', surprising audiences with his edgy humour.

However, Mr Harris drew the line at appearing in Ricky Gervais' sitcom Extras when he was asked to play a fictionalised racist version of himself.

After reading the script he said, 'This isn't clever writing, it's pure filth,' adding that he would have to be 'desperate' to take the role, which was offered to Keith Chegwin instead.

He wept on stage during a gig last year when he told the crowd he was battling cancer and had to have a bone marrow transplant.

The audience at the Wild Duck Park in Great Yarmouth gave Mr Harris a standing ovation during the performance in July.

Tributes: Fellow entertainers and Culture Secretary Sajid Javid were among those who took to Twitter today after Mr Harris' death

Last summer, he revealed that he had lost out on millions because he suffered from severe dyslexia which meant he never read the contracts he had signed with agents and promoters.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, he criticised the state of modern comedy, saying: 'There's nothing for kids to laugh at now.

‘I've got ideas for television. I thought I could do a TV show with Cuddles and Orville that teaches children manners. But the TV people don’t like to back an old horse.'

Mr Harris met his fourth wife at a nightclub he used to own in Poulton, Lancashire called Club L'Orange after her friend suggested they go and see 'the fella with the bird'.

Sarah, who was working as a model at the time, said: 'I thought it was Rod Hull and Emu. When I saw Keith I was quite disappointed!'

They married in 1999, had two children and remained happily wed until his death, after Mrs Harris helped nurse her husband through his illness.

The mother of his other daughter Skye was his second wife Jacqui Scott, a successful singer who first found fame by winning BBC talent show Rising Stars.

Mr Harris' marriage to first wife Shari ended acrimoniously, however, as she tried to have him jailed for giving an interview which appeared under the headline: 'Why I love Orville more than my wife'.

Cult figure: Mr Harris with Peter Kay and Bernie Clifton during the filming of a music video for Mr Kay's version of Is This the Way to Amarillo? in 2005

Panto: Mr Harris in Dick Whittington at the Birmingham Hippodrome in 2010 alongside Nigel Havers, left

PIONEERING TREATMENT WHICH FAILED TO CURE KEITH HARRIS Stem cell transplant is a treatment to try to cure some types of blood cancer, such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The benefit is that patients can have higher doses of treatment, so there may be more chance of curing the cancer than with standard chemotherapy. Patients tend to have very high doses of chemotherapy, sometimes with whole body radiotherapy. This has a good chance of killing the cancer cells - but also kills the stem cells in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is a spongy tissue found in the hollow centres of some bones. It contains specialist stem cells we need in order to survive. This is because stem cells produce three important types of blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. So after the high dose cancer treatment, patients have stem cells transferred via a drip in the arm to replace those that have been killed. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

Mr Kelly said that the star was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and fell ill again three months ago.

'In 2013 Keith suffered a loss of appetite and a swelling in his abdomen,' he said. 'Initially unsure of the cause, the doctors eventually removed his spleen and after a biopsy began treating Keith for cancer.

'Diagnosis proved difficult - however, it was finally narrowed to a very rare form of cancer with no known cure.

'Despite Keith undergoing long and difficult stem-cell replacement treatment during the summer of 2014 and appearing to have fully recovered, it became clear in January of 2015 that Keith was once again becoming unwell.

'Keith visited the oncologist at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and was told the cancer was in Keith's liver and there was nothing further they could do.'

Mr Kelly added: 'I spoke to Keith most days, whether we had business to do or not. I think I laughed every single time we spoke.

'Keith was not only a technically great ventriloquist, he was also a gifted mimic and an extraordinarily funny man both on stage and off.

'Perhaps even rarer than that in showbiz, he was a thoroughly decent man, a great friend and a wonderful father and husband.'

Affection: Actor Paddy McGuinness, stand-up Julian Clary and presenter Louis Theroux also paid tribute

Interview: Mr Harris told Mr Theroux in 2002 that he had 'created a monster' in the form of Orville

Among those paying tribute to Mr Harris after news of his death was Culture Secretary Sajid Javid, who said: 'Very sad to hear that Keith Harris has died after a battle with cancer. Brought joy to my childhood.'

Singer and broadcaster Aled Jones added: 'Sad to hear of the death of Keith Harris - sending best wishes to his family and friends.'

A number of other 1980s stars, including Les Dennis, Paul Daniels, Keith Chegwin, Julian Clary and Timmy Mallett also expressed their condolences.

BBC One said in a statement: 'We're saddened to hear that Keith Harris has died. Alongside Orville, he made millions of viewers laugh and smile.'

Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne wrote: 'So sorry to hear about the death of Keith Harris, a great entertainer who has died so very young. Fly up into the sky Keith. RIP.'

And comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli tweeted: 'This generation will not fully understand the phenomenon of Keith Harris and Orville.'

Louis Theroux, who interviewed the entertainer for a 2002 documentary, wrote on Twitter: 'RIP ventriloquist Keith Harris. Lovely man. My thoughts are with his family.'

In the TV programme, Mr Harris revealed his upset at being so closely associated with Orville that some considered him a one-trick pony.

'I obviously created a monster,' he said. 'It's very hard to get away from that. Everybody knows Orville, not everybody knows Keith Harris.'