Legendary Australian comedy writer Mike McColl Jones has died at the age of 86.

The writer, known for his work with comedy great Graham Kennedy, passed away on March 11 after a short illness.

Mike helped to shape the ‘golden age’ of comedy television and his fans and friends have been quick to pay tribute to him after the sad news of his death. 

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford gushed over Mike’s contribution to Australian television while remembering him on Melbourne talk station 3AW.

‘In recent times he hasn’t been enjoying the best of health, but very sharp mentally,’ he also told hosts Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft.

Legendary Australian comedy writer Mike McColl Jones has died at the age of 86 after a short illness 

Mike – who was born in Melbourne on August 12, 1937 – kickstarted his hugely successful TV career writing one-liners for Graham Kennedy’s In Melbourne Tonight show.

His partnership with Graham spanned two decades as Mike went on to write for The Graham Kennedy Show, which saw him make a name for himself as a talented comedy writer.

He helped to bring to life many shows at the centre of Australia’s ‘golden age’ of television, including The Don Lane Show and Tonight Live With Steve Vizard. 

As well as his close relationship with Graham, Mike also worked closely with Bert Newton on his shows Tonight With Bert Newton and The Bert Newton Show.

According to the New Daily, Bert previously said of Mike’s talents: ‘When it came to writing one liners and personality material, Mike was simply without peer.’ 

Mike worked on dozens of variety shows, writing thousands of jokes, and rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s biggest stars – including David Bowie and Clint Eastwood – as they visited the GTV9 studios.

The writer, known for his work with comedy great Graham Kennedy, helped to shape the ‘golden age’ of comedy television and his friends have paid tribute to him after his death 

In 2017, Mike was awarded an OBE for ‘service to the performing arts as a comedy writer for television’ as part of the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

TV presenter and film producer Steve Vizard penned an obituary for Mike where he said he will be ‘greatly missed’ as he gushed over his friend’s life’s work.

He wrote: ‘Mike McColl Jones was a gentle, imaginative man who was a direct, vital, unbroken link to the age of vaudeville and the Tivoli greats, through the glorious era of radio, through the golden age of television when television was the only game in town and half the nation watched last night’s shows, through cable television and the dawn of the new millennium, to the age of streaming and digital media.

‘It is a rare thing to make someone laugh, particularly in the solitude of their living room, but Mike succeeded for 40 years, and in so doing not only gifted our nation a laugh track, but compellingly charted the daily ebbs and flows and absurdities of our nation’s unfolding journey,’ he added.