12/10/2026
THIS IS WAY MORE COMMON THAN YOU THINK.
A homeless man in Galway recently left a 1.29M estate, despite being, well, homeless.
Benny Hill never lived in a council flat. But despite a £7.5 million fortune, he spent his final years in a sparse rented apartment, gluing the soles of his shoes back together.
At the time of his death in 1992, Hill resided in a modest flat in Teddington, southwest London. The reason for his extreme frugality lay in his childhood. Born in Southampton in 1924, Hill grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression. The pervasive fear of poverty he developed as a child never left him. Despite becoming one of the most successful and highest-paid comedians in the world, with The Benny Hill Show broadcast in over 140 countries, he lived as though he might lose everything tomorrow.
His daily habits baffled his peers. He patched his own clothes, bought cheap food from local supermarkets, and refused to buy a car, preferring to walk or take public transport. He never purchased his own home because he viewed property ownership and maintenance as an unnecessary hassle.
Instead, his rented apartment at Fairwater House was chosen purely for convenience. It was located just a short distance from Thames Television’s Teddington Stud
ios, where he filmed his show. Hill was a workaholic and an introvert who never married. He had no interest in the standard trappings of fame—no Hollywood parties, no mansions, no luxury cars. When the cameras stopped rolling, his ideal evening consisted of sitting in his quiet flat, eating a simple meal, and watching television to find inspiration for new jokes.
When Thames Television abruptly cancelled his show in 1989 after a two-decade run, Hill lost his primary anchor to the outside world. His health rapidly declined. In April 1992, he died alone in his armchair in front of his television. Because he had never updated his will, his unspent fortune was ultimately divided among nieces and nephews with whom he had almost no relationship.