Forsyth was expected to attend service on Monday but will now remain at home while he recovers from keyhole surgery

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Sir Bruce Forsyth will miss the funeral of his friend Ronnie Corbett because he is too unwell to attend, his manager has confirmed.

Corbett, who died aged 85 earlier this month, will be laid to rest on Monday. The veteran entertainer was expected to attend the service but has opted to remain at his Surrey home while he recovers from keyhole surgery.

Forsyth, 88, suffered a fall last October, causing a swelling of the main blood vessel from his heart, which required him to have surgery on the abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Following the operation last year, which was a “complete success”, his manager, Ian Wilson, told the Daily Mirror that Forsyth was “two or three weeks away” from being “out and about”.

“If he asked my advice I’d tell him not to go to the funeral,” he said.

Corbett was one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers and his partnership with Ronnie Barker in the BBC sketch show The Two Ronnies was one of the most popular programmes of the 1970s and 1980s.

His funeral, which is by invitation only, will take place at St John the Evangelist Church, Shirley, followed by a short service at Croydon crematorium, family friend Michael Thornton said.

It is expected the comedian’s daughters will pay tribute, and a wake will follow at Addington Golf Club.

The former Strictly Come Dancing host led tributes and spoke of his sadness following Corbett’s death at the end of March.

In a statement at the time, Forsyth said: “I have lost a close and very dear friend, and we have all lost one of the greatest comedians and entertainers this country has known.”