Bernard Manning, the old-school club comic who refused to acknowledge that his material was racist, died yesterday aged 76.

Manning, who played to packed houses at his own club after being banished from television, died in a Manchester hospital after suffering kidney failure.

Banned from performing by some local councils, the stand-up comedian became notorious for gags at the expense of black and Asian people. But Manning always maintained: “You never take a joke seriously. We have to tell jokes about everything and everyone.”

Born in 1930 in Ancoats, one of the poorest suburbs of Manchester, Manning’s career peaked with the 1970s ITV programme The Comedians.

Although his comic timing was unquestionable, changing tastes and the arrival of alternative comedy put paid to his television career. An unrepentant Manning retreated to the Embassy Club in his home town, where he continued to enjoy a loyal – and ethnically diverse – audience. Although he lived modestly, his wealth has been estimated at more than £10 million.

Frank Carson, a fellow comic and friend, told the BBC News website: “He was a wonderful man. If I had to write his gravestone I’d put, ‘Here lies Bernard Manning, comedian, who died 76 years old.’ Underneath that I’d put, ‘What a pity, he had a booking next week’.”

Jonathan Margolis, Manning’s biographer, said: “Bernard was the last of the old-style, joke-telling comedians. Jokes slightly went out of fashion maybe 25 years ago. He was a man of his age – and as people of his age went, he was relatively unracist. Until his dying day, he didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.”

Last month Manning attended his own “wake”, a gathering of 600 friends and fans in Manchester to celebrate his life for a Channel 4 show called This Was Your Life. He heard tributes from colleagues on The Comedians but told the audience: “I’m going to be with you for a long time yet.” Stan Boardman, who was one of those present, said: “He went to his own wake and he cracked gags all the way through. Bernard did a hell of a lot for charity. [He] never ever cared how he would be remembered.”

In 2002 Manning was banned from performing in the Dorset seaside town of Weymouth, where councillors were worried that his act would be in breach of race laws.

The film director Michael Winner, who paid for Manning to perform at a party, was a fan. He said: “He was the last of the comedians who put the PC brigade behind him. He took no notice of them and just got on with the job of being funny.”

Sir Cyril Smith, the former Rochdale MP and a friend of Manning, said: “Bernard was a heavyweight in more ways than one. A heavyweight to the literally hundreds of charitable causes that he supported all his life and raised thousands of pounds for. Bernard was kind, generous, honest and straight and will be missed.”

His son, Bernard Jr, said that illness had forced Manning, who was diabetic, to cancel a show for the first time in his six decades as an entertainer.

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