ONE of the country’s most loved comedians, Jimmy Edwards had close ties to Sussex.

Jimmy, famous for playing the trombone and for acting as eccentric schoolmasters, was for many years a farmer living in Fletching.

He also spent a couple of years living in a cottage in Rottingdean.

As a big hunting enthusiast, Jimmy used to spend time in the countryside around Rottingdean on horseback looking for game to hunt.

He is pictured above with two other men tending to his legendary moustache during a hunt in 1979.

He is also shown at the opening of new bar at the Old Ship Hotel in Brighton in 1969.

The popular entertainer was born in 1920 in Barnes, Surrey, the son of a professor of mathematics.

He was educated at St Paul’s Cathedral School, at King’s College School in Wimbledon and at St John’s College, Cambridge.

Jimmy served as a flight lieutenant in the RAF during the war and won a Distinguished Flying Medal for his service.

His Dakota plane was shot down at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, which was part of Operation Market Garden.

His trademark handlebar moustache was used to hide the marks left behind by plastic surgery after he was involved in the crash.

He was a gay man who felt he had to hide his sexuality from the wider public due to the law at the time.

Jimmy died from pneumonia in London in 1988 at the age of 68.

Another famous Jimmy, former football player and Match Of The Day presenter Jimmy Hill, died aged 87 in December 2015.

Until his death, Jimmy lived in Hurstpierpoint, where he and his wife Bryony moved in 1985.

He is pictured above at Harrington Motors in the Bingo car in 1982.

Former football player and Match Of The Day presenter Jimmy Hill died aged 87 in December 2015.

The Londoner, who made his name playing for Fulham in the 1950s, enjoyed a second career as a distinguished broadcaster.

He died after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years.

In a statement, Jane Morgan, spokeswoman for Hill’s wife Bryony, said: “It is with great sadness that Bryony Hill and the children of Jimmy Hill have announced that Jimmy passed away peacefully today aged 87 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Bryony was beside him.”

Hill will be cremated at a private ceremony.

A service for his friends and colleagues will be held in the new year, Ms Morgan said.

Until his death, Mr Hill lived in Hurstpierpoint, wheere the couple moved to 30 years ago.

Stars from the world of football paid tribute to Hill.

BBC Sport presenter Dan Walker said: “Very sad to hear about Jimmy Hill. He did everything in the game. Much of what we take for granted came from his drive to innovate.”

Radio presenter and former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore described him as “the face of football for a generation”.

Former England goalkeeper David James hailed him as “a legend”, while broadcaster Piers Morgan said he was “a great football man”.