He became famous after winning the television talent show Opportunity Knocks before going on to further success in The Comedians. The comic, who grew up in a deprived area of north Belfast, performed all over Britain. Former chat show host Sir Michael Parkinson said: "We had him on the show a couple of times and I met him playing golf. He was a good comic and great company. He represented that front-of-cloth comedy, it's a different genre from the kind of comedy that we have today, where younger and smarter comedians play big halls - he was a club comic. People's sense of humour has changed, this generation laugh at different things. At that time, comedians could talk about fat women and people with bow legs, I doubt whether he'd enjoy going on TV today, with all the strictures that are put on people. He was a good man - you're always smiling with people like Frank around. Nationalist SDLP assembly member Alasdair McDonnell said: "Frank Carson was a truly unique and wonderful entertainer who made people laugh and never forgot his native Belfast. He lifted spirits in times of despair and during some of the worst days of the Troubles with his sparkling wit which made him very popular in Ireland and throughout Britain. Sir Bruce Forsyth told ITV News: "The only trouble with Frank, as far as I'm concerned, is that he made me laugh too much. He'll be remembered as the one and only Frank Carson - the man who loved to make people laugh. Comedian Frank Carson (Gareth Copley/PA)