Brendan O'Carroll made hit show Mrs Brown's Boys a family affair, writing both son Danny and daughter Fiona in as main characters.
But the creator and star of the enduringly popular BBC series has now opened up about the tragic death of his firstborn son Brendan, who died just a few days after his birth in 1979.
The Irish comic said he believed he would one day his oldest child again, following Brendan's death as an infant from complications caused by spina bifida in 1979.
Brendan said that he also dreamed of being reunited with his sister Fiona, who died this summer, and his mother, who died when he was 28.
He told the Irish Sun: "I wouldn't regard myself as a Bible-thumping Catholic but I do believe in life after death. I firmly believe I'm going to see Fiona again, and my mother and my son.
"If I didn't believe that I would shoot myself. What's the point?"
Brendan, 65, was 25 when his son with then wife Doreen O'Carroll died.
He said the best way to deal with grief is to "keep talking about it".
Talking about his mother's death in 1984, Brendan said: "My mother asked me to make two promises about how she died. She said, 'I don't want to die in a home, Brendan' and then she said, 'And I want to die on a sunny day'.
"I said 'Ma, I'll make sure you die at home but there is f**k all I can do about the weather'."
In a previous interview earlier this year, Brendan said the loss of his son still affected him.
The father-of-four - who also has son Eric - said: "I was really young when my son died.
"He was my first child and like everyone else, I had all these things figured out in my head – the white picket fence, swing in the garden, he'd play football just like his dad and I'd go to the games with him.
"But it changed overnight. It leaves a hole.
"I'm very lucky to have three fantastic kids, but they don’t fill that gap. Not that you'd want them to, but they don't."
It was recently announced that Brendan's show Mrs Brown's Boys will stay on TV until at least 2026, after he signed a new contract to produce annual special Christmas episodes.
*Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials will screen on BBC One on Christmas Day at 10.00pm and New Year's Day at 10.00pm.