Emmerdale star died penniless leaving heartbroken widow on Universal Credit
The Emmerdale and Coronation Street actor met a tragic end.
A beloved British actor passed away without a penny to his name despite an illustrious career, leaving his widow dependent on Universal Credit to make ends meet. Tony Booth was best known for portraying Mike Rawlins across 52 episodes of the BBC sitcom Till Death Do Us Part, but he also made his mark on ITV soaps, appearing in five episodes of Coronation Street and one episode of Emmerdale.
It was his Corrie co-star Pat Phoenix - who played the iconic Elsie Tanner on the cobbles - who first nursed a "penniless" Tony back to health after he narrowly escaped death in a fire at his flat. He moved in with the actress following years of sharing the small screen with her, and the pair ultimately decided to wed just one week before Pat's heartbreaking death at the age of 62.
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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.
Tragically, Tony received an Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2004, before suffering a stroke in 2010. His health continued to deteriorate, with chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease blighting his final years.
His eventual passing, after a prolonged period of being unable to work, left his widow Steph forced to rely on Universal Credit, having spent tens of thousands of pounds on his care bills - entirely wiping out their savings and leaving her utterly destitute.
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 received assistance from her stepdaughter, Cherie Blair, the wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, but "hated having to rely on handouts".
