John Inman, star of TV sitcom Are You Being Served?, has died in a west London hospital following a long illness. His long-term partner, Ron Lynch, is said to be "devastated" at his death. Inman, 71, died in St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, at 4am on Thursday morning. The actor suffered from hepatitis A and had been taken into hospital for tests after problems with his liver. Inman rose to fame in the 1970s as camp character Mr. Humphries in Are You Being Served?. The character's catchphrase "I'm free!" and camp mannerisms sometimes lead to criticism of Humphries as a ‘parody' of homosexual men. Inman's manager Phil Dale said: "John, through his character Mr Humphries of Are You Being Served? was known and loved throughout the world. "He was one of the best and finest pantomime dames working to capacity audiences throughout Britain. "John was known for his comedy plays and farces, which were enjoyed from London's West End throughout the country and as far as Australia, Canada and the USA." Inman twice performed in New Zealand, both times controversially. He and his co-host were heckled mercilessly by a boorish audience at an entertainment industry award night, and on another trip he was criticised by gay activist for perpetuating a damaging and demeaning stereotype of gay men with his Mr Humphries character. It was revealed that Inman had Hepatitis A after it forced him to cancel the opening of a pantomime in London on 9th December, 2004. Hepatitis A is an inflammation of the liver caused through eating contaminated food, which the star believed was how he came to have the virus. It was initially hoped he would be able to return to the pantomime, in which he was due to play Wanda the Cook in Dick Whittington, before Christmas 2004, but he would never returned to the stage again. Ref: Yahoo! news, GayNZ.com (m)