EastEnders' legend leaves huge sum in will after heartbreaking death
31.08.2023 - 11:11
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
UK soap icon Bill Treacher left a large sum of money to his family to ensure they're taken care of following his tragic death in 2022.
The original EastEnders star - best known for his role as Arthur Fowler on the BBC soap - died aged 92 in November after he was diagnosed with ataxia seven years prior.
In a statement released by the family of the veteran actor, it was confirmed that he had been in 'declining health' for some time before his death, reports the Mirror.
It has now been confirmed that the star's family are set to inherit his £504,676. 01 inheritance, according to figures released by the probate office.
The actor named his executors and trustees as his wife, Australian actress Katherine Kessey, and their kids, Jamie and Sophie, as well as a solicitor.
His grandchildren have also been confirmed as some of the discretionary beneficiaries of his financial assets.
Bill was the first individual EastEnders creator Julie Smith approached when she assembled the cast in 1985 - even writing the role of Arthur with him in mind.
However, at first he wasn't keen and turned it down, afraid the long hours and travel to and from London would stop him spending time with his family in Suffolk.
It took him two days of consideration and a long chat with his family before Bill decided the offer was too good to turn down.
"I rang my agent and said, 'Tell Julia I'll do it'. She said, 'I already have.' As an actor it's hard to get regular work, it's not that sort of career," he said at the time.
The EastEnders icon later branded the soap - which he rose to fame from - as 'a load of old rubbish', slamming the long-running show.
On November 5, 2022, he died of pneumonia in a Suffolk hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19.
"Bill was a