Tributes pour in for comedian John Clarke

Tributes are pouring in for the late legendary comedian John Clarke, who passed away while hiking on Sunday at the age of 68.

Kiwi fans are remembering Clarke for his contribution to New Zealand comedy, most memorably for his iconic character Fred Dagg.

"So sad, he brought a lot of smiles to many faces," wrote Dusty Miller on Facebook.

"The essence of kiwi humour has suffered a great loss with Murray Ball and now John Clarke," wrote Tania Archibald.

Charlie Wilson called Clarke an "icon of Kiwi entertainment".

Several New Zealand celebrities have also expressed their sadness on Twitter.

"RIP John Clarke," said Taika Waititi on Twitter. "Hugely influential to me and my mates, he was one of the fathers of NZ's style of comedy. We all copied him at some point."

"Bloody sad news," said John Campbell.

Guy Williams called Clarke "top class", saying he was "not properly recognised as New Zealand's sharpest political comedian".

RIP John Clarke. Hugely influential to me and my mates, he was one of the fathers of NZ's style of comedy. We all copied him at some point.

— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) April 10, 2017

John Clarke spent most of his career in Australia. Now we'll claim him back. He's our Phar Lap of comedy. https://t.co/00ipkk8KQ9

— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) April 10, 2017

Goodbye John Clarke. This mocumentary he made in 1974 still makes me laugh. So subtle and hilarious.https://t.co/7n5uXd7h7y

— Jemaine Clement (@AJemaineClement) April 10, 2017

Bloody sad news... https://t.co/DnL5kheA2U

— John Campbell (@JohnJCampbell) April 10, 2017

John Clarke has died.#FredDagg was a huge part of my childhood didn't realise grown ups could be so funny. Huge loss #Getinbehind

— Greg Boyed (@GregBoyed) April 10, 2017

Was big Fred Dagg fan as a kid. Every time I interviewed John Clarke as an adult, my inner 10 year old giggled. #rip https://t.co/H3JPbU60oH

— Russell Baillie (@Russell_Baillie) April 10, 2017

RIP John Clarke. Bloody legend.

— Josh Thomson (@MrJoshThomson) April 10, 2017

Sad to hear of the death of John Clarke, aka Fred Dagg. His humour captured the experience of life in NZ and Australia.

— Bill English (@RtHonBEnglish) April 10, 2017

Utterly gutted. John Clarke has died. One of my idols.

— Cal Wilson (@calbo) April 10, 2017

John Clarke, always the best thing in whatever he was in: https://t.co/zImjkbQ4Ng

— Tony Martin (@mrtonymartin) April 10, 2017

Gutted about John Clarke. We can ill afford to lose such a voice of wry sanity.

— Jane Caro (@JaneCaro) April 10, 2017