Bitter rift over Benny Hill's £7.5million fortune revealed after racy comedian's ‘2nd will for stars and pals rejected'
PRICE TO PAY Bitter rift over Benny Hill's £7.5million fortune revealed after racy comedian's '2nd will for stars and pals rejected'
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A BITTER feud has erupted over Benny Hill's £7.5million fortune, after claims his dying wish to leave cash to close friends and TV co-stars was binned – and the entire pot handed to family members he barely knew.
The legendary comic, once one of Britain's most-loved entertainers, died alone in his rented Teddington flat in 1992 – aged 68 – with piles of uncashed cheques and leftover food beside him.
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Comedy legend Benny Hill in his prime during the heyday of his iconic TV show
Credit: Alamy
Despite global fame and enormous wealth, Hill was a notorious penny-pincher who glued his shoes back together, bought discounted groceries and left behind a modest flat instead of a mansion.
And while his official 1961 will named now-deceased family members, close pals insist he later penned a second, informal version, giving specific sums to longtime colleagues and friends including Sue Upton, Dennis Kirkland, Louise English, Bob Todd and Henry McGee.
But the document never made it through probate – either rejected for not being signed and witnessed properly, or simply lost by the star.
'It's a very sad state of affairs,' said Upton, 70, a former Hill's Angel, who worked with him for more than a decade and became one of his dearest friends.
'Benny never saw his family, he wasn't close to them at all. The people who he worked with for many many years on the show, we were his family.'
'He used to say to me 'you haven't got to worry about money Little Sausage, you're in my will'… but Benny was the world's worst person for paperwork.'
She added: 'I was told there was a piece of paper with people's names and amounts and I was on that list… but it wouldn't stand up in court so that was that.'
Instead, Hill's £7.5million estate – worth over £20million today – went to seven nieces and nephews, most of whom had little or no relationship with him, the Daily Mail reports.
One niece, Madeleine Sailani, 68, who lives in a plush £1.3million pad near the sea in Hove, told reporters: 'I think there's been some confusion,' and refused to speak about the inheritance or an upcoming Channel 5 documentary on her famous uncle.
Another, Jonathan Hill, 62, resides in a £1million top-floor flat on one of Edinburgh's most exclusive streets.
His sister, Caroline Hill, 70, was last listed at a £1.6million house in Wandsworth, South West London.
The rest of the beneficiaries remain in Australia, where Hill's sister Diana lived until her death.
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