Ian Mortimer, 66, died on Boxing Day in Sydney after having battled liver cancer over the past year.

As a member of the Murray River Performing Group, Mortimer was integral to the creation of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus in Albury-Wodonga in 1979.

Its executive director Richard Hull paid tribute to the performer popularly known as Mort.

“He was a very open and warm-hearted man,” Mr Hull said.

“He was incredibly creative and energetic, he was always brimming with ideas and projects that he wanted to do, quite often with young people.

“He had a number of ideas for projects with the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.

“It’s sad to realise now they won’t happen but he never stopped dreaming and plotting.”

Mr Hull met Mortimer in 2014 during the staging of Borderville, a celebration of the circus’ 35^th anniversary.

“I remember our artistic director Jodie Farrugia took him on stage and introduced him to all the kids,” Mr Hull said.

“I think then that he just realised what an incredible legacy he created with his colleagues and he was a huge part of it.”

Mortimer grew up in Adelaide and had a troubled youth which sprailled into jail stints.

“I was a delinquent, living in brothels and setting fire to police cars,” he told The Border Mail in 1989.

In another interview in 1998 he said: “I knew if did not find another way I’d be dead.”

Mortimer taught himself music in Melbourne’s Pentridge prison and after landing a job as a theatre dogsbody he found his way into a drama course at the Victorian College of Arts.

After graduating he landed on the Border and helped develop the Flying Fruit Fly Circus show which launched the troupe in a big top at Hovell Tree Park in May, 1979.

Mortimer moved on to various artistic ventures, ranging from busking to parts in films and television productions.

Among those who paid tribute to Mortimer on Facebook were Melbourne theatre philanthropist Carrillo Gantner and singer and former Play School presenter Monica Trapaga.

“I loved his appreciation of the world, his concern for the planet and his determination to improve the way we think and educate the next generation,” Trapaga wrote.

A celebration of Mortimer’s life will be held in Sydney on Friday.

He is survived by his older brother Hugh, who lives in Adelaide, his wife Joanna Webber and two sons.