Iconic BBC star Keith Harris died virtually penniless after blowing £7m Orville the Duck fortune before tragic death
BBC legend Keith Harris lost an eye-watering £7million before his death from cancer in 2015.
Legendary puppeteer Keith Harris - who shot to fame alongside his cute creations Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey - claimed he lost his multi million-pound fortune after signing contracts he didn’t understand, due to his dyslexia.
The BBC legend said he lost all of his money, before passing away from cancer in April 2015, despite having enjoyed a successful career - including fronting The Keith Harris Show between 1982 and 1986. In 1982, he also bagged a top-10 single with Orville’s Song.
Success on screen and in the charts saw him earn millions, but during an interview in 2014, he revealed he lost his fortune due to his dyslexia. The star told Mail on Sunday: "I’ve made about £7 million throughout my career, but I’ve lost it all too. It’s all down to the dyslexia. I can’t read or write. Reading contracts? I didn’t, I just signed them.
"I got into trouble many times. I signed myself away for 14 years to someone once – 25 per cent I was paying. I had no idea. I’ve been brought up to trust people but you have to be careful. People think you’re very rich and want to see if they can make money out of you. You don’t give up showbusiness, it gives you up."
At the end of his career, Harris worked at Butlin's holiday resorts and in the theatre to make ends meet, before being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in 2013 and given just 12 months to live.
However, he battled on, having his spleen removed and going through chemotherapy. At one point, he nearly died on the operating table, and was left unable to work for a year - and claimed he heard medical staff talk about whether he was going to make it as he lay under anaesthesia.
After bravely managing to return to work, Harris was given the heartbreaking news the cancer had returned in 2014 and he died in hospital in April 2015, aged 67.
Harris left behind his fourth wife Sarah, and their children Kitty and Shenton, as well as a daughter, Skye, from his first marriage to singer Jacqui Scott, and his mother Lila and brother, Colin.