US comedian and civil rights activist, Dick Gregory has died at the age of 84.

Gregory, who used humour to break down racial barriers died late on Saturday in Washington after spending a week in the hospital fighting a bacterial infection.

His son, Christian announced his death. He said, 'It is with enormous sadness that the Gregory family confirms that their father, comedic legend and civil rights activist Mr Dick Gregory departed this earth tonight'.

Meanwhile, the legendary comedian in his lifetime was one of the first black stand-up comedians to find success with white audiences in the early 1960s.

He rose from an impoverished childhood in St Louis to win a college track scholarship and become a celebrated satirist who commented upon racial divisions at the dawn of the civil rights movement.

Late Dick Gregory is survived by his wife, Lillian, and 10 children.