Emmerdale and Corrie star died penniless and left widow on Universal Credit

An iconic British actor died penniless despite his incredible career - leaving his widow relying on Universal Credit to get by. Tony Booth was best known for playing Mike Rawlins in 52 episodes of BBC sitcom Till Death Do Us Part, but he also had roles in ITV soaps - starring in five episodes of Coronation Street and one episode of Emmerdale.

It was his Corrie co-star Pat Phoenix - who played Elsie Tanner on the cobbles - who first nursed a "penniless" Tony back to health after he almost died in a fire at his flat. He moved in with the actress after years of competing against her on the small screen, and the pair eventually decided to marry just a week before Pat's tragic death at the age of 62.

Tony went on to marry two more times, first to Nancy Jaeger in 1988 until their divorce in 1996, and finally to Stephanie Buckley in 1998, until his death aged 85 in 2017.

Sadly, by 2004 Tony had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, before he suffered a stroke in 2010. His health continued to fail - he suffered from chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in his later years.

His eventual death after years of being unable to work left his widow Steph relying on Universal Credit after forking out tens of thousands of pounds on his care bills, which wiped out their savings and left them both penniless once again.

She explained: "When Tony died we were broke. I had no income for five years and we had used all our savings. All the benefits stopped and I had absolutely nothing. No husband, no income, nothing. It was such a shock.

"I lived on Universal Credit for six months. It was horrible to be that low."

Steph was helped out by her step-daughter Cherie Blair - wife to former prime minister Tony Blair - but "hated having to rely on handouts".