Bernard Manning, who died on 18 June 2007 aged 76, was technically one of the most accomplished stand-up comedians in the UK, but his strictly adult-only humour frequently made the headlines for the wrong reasons.

But although regularly accused of racism, sexism, and most other -isms you could care to name, Mr Manning strenuously denied ever setting out to cause offence to any one particular group.

Instead, he insisted that, by making everyone and everything potentially the butt of his humour, he was in fact treating all groups exactly the same - although he did steer clear of jokes about the disabled.

Bernard Manning was born on 13 August 1930 in the Ancoats district of Manchester. He would remain strongly associated with the North-West all his life and his style of humour was effectively rooted in the region's industrial traditions.

Beginning his career in northern Working Men's Clubs in the 1950s and 1960s, Mr Manning first came to national attention in 1970 when he made his television debut on Granada TV's stand-up comedy show The Comedians.

It earned him national fame and, for a while, a reputation as king of the stand-ups - but with the dawn of political correctness, his act became seen as too risky for TV exposure.

His appearances on the northern Working Men's club circuit continued, however, playing to packed audiences which, as he claimed, often included people from ethnic minorities.

In his later life, although he still toured Britain, he tended to appear most frequently at The Embassy, the club in Rochdale Road, Manchester, which he owned and which was the source of most of his multi-million pound fortune.

"Because he wasn't on television very much doesn't mean he wasn't still successful. He was more successful than any of the comedians that have been on television in the last 15 years," said fellow comic Stan Boardman.

His biographer, Jonathan Margolis, said he was "the last of the joke-tellers".

Mr Margolis concluded that Mr Manning did indeed hold anachronistic views - but no more so than "most working-class people in their late 60s".

Bernard Manning never set out to endear himself to people. Journalists, male or female, would be obliged to interview him at his home as the 21-stone comedian sat in his vest and Y-fronts.

While his detractors were convinced he was a bigot, his family and friends insisted it was all an act to pull in the punters, and that Mr Manning was one of the kindest, most charitable, most loving men you could meet.

His wife Vera died of a heart attack in 1986 and he then moved back in with his mother, who herself died nine years later.

Mr Manning died in North Manchester General Hospital, where he was being treated for a kidney condition.