A pantomime dame regarded as Britain's greatest has died after a lifetime of entertaining the public.

Jack Tripp died on Sunday aged 83. He was the master of knockabout routines and famed for his outrageous and inventive costumes such as a hat designed as a frying pan cooking bacon and eggs.

Jack, who lived in Wilbury Grange, Wilbury Road, Hove, loved living in Brighton and Hove, and had many friends in showbusiness and would often give parties.

He was the only entertainer to have been given the MBE specifically for his pantomime dame roles.

Jack played all the famous pantomime dames, Widow Twankey in Aladdin, the Nurse in Babes in the Wood, Mrs Crusoe in Robinson Crusoe and Mother Goose.

He starred in productions at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, and his last pantomime was Mother Goose at Devonshire Park Theatre in the 1996/7 season.

Jack died on Sunday after being taken to Brighton General Hospital by ambulance. He had lived in Brighton and Hove since the Sixties.

Brighton actress Dora Bryan said: "He was a lovely man, a great friend and a true professional.

"Like most of us he thought the business had changed in recent years but he will be remembered as a pantomime legend."

Carol Kaye, of the Kaye Sisters, said: "He was very much respected, a nice man and a total professional."

Jack had fans who would follow him round the country, such as pensioner Josie Whibley, from Tunbridge Wells.

She said: "He was a supreme entertainer. His dancing was wonderful and his timing superb. He was simply the best."

Jack was born in Plymouth, the son of a baker, and began dancing as a youngster in talent competitions. He was billed as "Plymouth's Fred Astaire".

He appeared in several seasons of the Fol de Rols seaside summer shows before moving into pantomime. He often appeared in shows with Roy Hudd. An ITV documentary called The Pantomime Dame was made about his life in 1982.

For many years Jack lived with his partner, the singer and dancer Allen Christie, in Hove and the pair appeared in Hastings and Brighton almost every summer in the show Take A Tripp, a light-hearted revue they both devised.

He appeared in the comedy Divorce Me Darling at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1997.

In the past five years Jack was in demand as a guest at showbusiness functions in London and throughout the country, while enjoying socialising and living in Brighton and Hove.

Details of his funeral have yet to be announced.