Goodlee byelode to the guru of gobbledegook

Stanley Unwin, the humorist who invented a gobbledegook language based on children's fairytales, has died aged 90.

Nicknamed "The Professor", Unwin rose to prominence in the Sixties in radio and television with his streams of malapropisms.

Unwin got his break while working as a sound engineer for the BBC when he entertained producers with his sketch, How to Make an Omelette, after which he was unleashed on radio audiences. He had a number of film roles, appearing in Carry On Regardless and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Born in South Africa, Unwin arrived in England accompanied by his mother in 1914. He was separated from her and his sisters and endured a traumatic childhood. He later said he missed, "kissy cudlodes and the deep joy of mumfolders". Upon the birth of the first of his three children he began to develop the seemingly childish language, which keen students were able to decipher.

Unwin, who died surrounded by his family at Danetree Community Hospital in Daventry, Northamptonshire, on Saturday, continued practising his language or "sproking deep thorkus" during retirement.