James Avery Dead: Stars Pay Tribute To 'Fresh Prince Of Bel Air' Star

Stars Pay Tribute To 'Fresh Prince' Star
|

Stars of the entertainment world have paid tribute to the 'Fresh Prince Of Bel Air' star James Avery who has died at the age of 65.

His co-star, Alfonso Ribeiro - who appeared on the last series of 'I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here', led the tributes to the actor, who played Uncle Phil in the hit US TV show.

Open Image Modal

James Avery

Alfonso wrote on his Facebook page: "The world has lost a truly special man. I am very saddened to say that James Avery has passed.

"Even though he played my father on TV, he was a wonderful father figure to me in life. He will be deeply missed."

Will Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith also took to Facebook to pay her respects.

"I was hoping to start the new year differently but we have lost yet another friend," she wrote.

"James Avery who we all lovingly know as Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince has passed. Our condolences to aunt Florence (his mother), Miss Barbara (his wife) and all those who loved him.

"Rest in peace James."

Open Image Modal

James Avery (centre, back) with his 'Fresh Prince' co-stars

Tatyana Ali, who played James' on-screen daughter Ashley Banks in 'The Fresh Prince', also paid tribute to the late star.

She wrote on Twitter: "James was my teacher my protector & the most magnificent actor. We're feeling his loss very deeply. He'll always be apart of me #JamesAvery (sic)"

Meanwhile, former 'X Factor' hopefuls Rough Copy were some of the first to pay tribute to the actor after posting a video clip of Will Smith singing 'And I'm Telling You' to James Avery on 'The Fresh Prince', which they captioned with: "R.I.P James Avery (Uncle Phil)".