The former Young Ones and Bottom star, who fronted a £4m campaign for Wells & Young’s, died this morning according to his management.
The star survived a near-fatal quad bike crash in 1998 and was left in a coma for several days.
In the beer ads Mayall portrayed the thoroughly English “The Bombardier”, also known as William Charles Bedford.
A spokeswoman for Wells and Young's said: "Everyone at Wells & Young's is shocked and saddened to hear the news that Rik Mayall has passed away and would like to extend our condolences to his family and friends"