Benny Hill's tragic downfall as star died alone in tiny flat

Despite racking up a multimillion pound fortune over his decades as a comedy icon, Benny Hill died alone in his tiny flat after subsisting on cheap supermarket food for years. Notoriously frugal, Benny would rather walk for miles than call for a taxi and hated buying new clothes - instead patching and mending his own torn garments.

It wasn't always easy for the comedian - he suffered from stage fright, and his first handful of gigs were catastrophic failures. Reg Varney, his former comedy partner, recalled one incident when the audience was clapping "all together and in singles" - the first time he had ever heard "the slow handclap". He said: "Benny came off the stage, staggered back to the dressing room and was sick in the sink. I could have cried for him."

When he died at the age of just 68 in 1992, Benny was in a bad way. In a matter of days he had suffered a heart attack and kidney failure, but refused treatment for both. His body sadly went unnoticed for two days, in the armchair of his Teddington flat, and his death only came to light when a neighbour reported an unpleasant smell coming from under his door.

His agent brought a ladder round to scale the wall and look into Benny's window, revealing he found his body "surrounded by dirty plates, glasses, videotapes and piles of paper". He had weighed 238 pounds - 17 stone - when dealing with his various health battles.

His last public appearance had been when Benny was in the audience of London's Adelphi Theatre, watching Me & My Girl, to see Louise English perform.

Despite leaving £7million in his will - which would be worth around £20million today - most of Benny's family had sadly preceded him in death, including his brother, sister and parents. His money instead was split between Benny's nieces and nephews, who he hardly knew.

Sue Upton - part of Benny's dance troupe - told The Mail at the time: "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."

Benny famously said about money: "I could afford a gold-plated Rolls Royce, but I prefer to walk."