A man, who at the peak of his career during the 1990s was one of Britain’s top mime artists, has died.

Mick Wall, who died aged 64, enjoyed great success over two decades as a circus skills performer, and later went on to become a household name with the children’s television series Dizzy Heights, which he co-wrote with professional partner Alan Heap.

Throughout a long and varied career, he toured with such showbiz luminaries as comic legend Norman Wisdom, rocker Suzi Quatro, entertainers Bernie Clifton and Ted Rogers.

Born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Mick moved to Sheffield at the age of two. After leaving school, he originally trained as an engineer before studying at an art college and subsequently working as a graphic designer in Barnsley.

But it was a trip to the south of France to attend a wedding that completely changed the direction of his life. Taking his guitar with him, he decided to stay in France, ending up in Paris where he began to earn money busking on the streets.

He had earlier played in a number of rock bands in Yorkshire, but the guitar couldn’t provide enough money to live on, so he decided to enrol at the Jacques Lecoq School of Mime in the French capital to learn street theatre skills and hopefully boost his income.

It was about this time that he met his future wife Angie and the couple eventually relocated to her home city of Worcester.

From then on, Mick’s career took off – his first big engagement was the Edinburgh Fringe and this was followed by a series of national tours that invariably ended back at Worcester, usually at the Arts Workshop in Sansome Place.

In the mid-1980s, Mick joined the internationally-acclaimed Circus Burlesque, where he met Alan Heap.

They decided to team up, forming the comedy duo Heap and Wall, a successful partnership that was also destined to lay the foundations of the hit show Dizzy Heights, which ran for three consecutive series.

After the series ended, Mick returned to touring, but badly injured his hand in a road accident, which seriously curtailed his work. In recent years, he suffered from repeated bouts of illness and disability, which culminated in his death.

Worcester News columnist John Phillpott paid this tribute. “Mick Wall was my friend. Legend is a much over-used word these days, but that is exactly what he was. Mick was hugely talented and endlessly generous.

“I appeared in several of his shows at the Arts Workshop and Swan Theatre. I have many happy memories of those days and also the countless times we just whiled away the hours playing our guitars round at his house or mine.”

Mick Wall, who lived just off London Road, Worcester, leaves a widow, Angie, and two grown-up children, Thomas and Natalie.

A funeral service is being held at 1.45pm on Monday, November 13, at All Saints’ Church, Deansway, Worcester, to be followed by cremation at a later date.

Mourners are asked to wear something brightly coloured – preferably red – at the service, which will be led by Jim Harper of Worcester’s Hope Church. The family has requested donations in lieu of flowers.