Benny Hill Net Worth

What was Benny Hill's Net Worth?

Benny Hill was an English comedian, actor, and writer who had a net worth of $8.5 million at the time of his death in 1992. That's the same as around $20 million today, after adjusting for inflation.

Benny Hill was best known for his long-running television program "The Benny Hill Show," which consisted of a wide range of comedy sketches characterized by slapstick, parody, and innuendo. He also appeared in some films, including "Who Done It?," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and "The Italian Job," and wrote and performed the UK 1971 Christmas number-one single "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)."

Benny Hill Estate Value And Inheritance

At the time of his death in 1992, Benny Hill's estate was worth $8.5 million, which is roughly the same as $20 million today after adjusting for inflation. He wrote his will three decades before his death. His parents were named as his beneficiaries when the will was written. Since his parents were already deceased in 1992 when Benny died, the fortune would next go to his siblings. Unfortunately, in 1992, his siblings were also deceased, so the money went to several nieces and nephews, several of whom he had never met because he was estranged from their parents.

Early Life and Education

Benny Hill was born Alfred Hill on January 21, 1924 in Southampton, England to Alfred Sr. and Helen. His father managed a surgical appliance store and was a former circus clown. Hill was educated at Taunton's School.

Career Beginnings

Hill had a number of odd jobs before making it big in show business. He worked at Woolworths, served as a milkman and a bridge operator, and became an assistant stage manager for a touring revue. In 1942, Hill was conscripted into the British Army and was made a mechanic in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Before the end of the war, he transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment. After the war ended, Hill pursued his career in show business using the name Benny, in reference to his comedic idol Jack Benny. He made his debut on the radio in 1947 and his debut on television in 1949.

The Benny Hill Show

After developing and appearing in many comedy sketches on different BBC variety shows in the early 1950s, Hill was named the television personality of the year in 1954. Early the next year, he debuted his own television program, "The Benny Hill Show." Using a music hall-style format, the program mixed live comedy sketches with filmed sketches and combined slapstick, burlesque, parody, and innuendo. In addition to Hill's own characters, including the iconic Fred Scuttle, "The Benny Hill Show" included recurring characters from such actors as Patricia Hayes, Ronnie Brody, Dave Freeman, Jackie Wright, and Jeremy Hawk.

After airing on the BBC for almost 14 years, with occasional appearances on ITV and ATV, "The Benny Hill Show" moved permanently to Thames Television in 1969. The show remained hugely popular, reaching its peak viewership in the UK in 1971 and gaining a cult following in the US later in the decade. In the 1980s, the show introduced a group of attractive young women collectively called Hill's Angels, featuring such actresses as Sue Upton and Jane Leeves. At the end of the decade, amid declining ratings for "The Benny Hill Show," Hill announced that he was quitting, and the show was canceled. Its final episode aired on May 1, 1989.

Getty Images

Other Radio and Television Shows

Hill appeared on some other radio and television programs during the run of "The Benny Hill Show." From 1962 to 1963, he starred in the sitcom anthology series "Benny Hill," and in 1964 he played Nick Bottom in a television production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Next, from 1964 to 1965, Hill hosted the topical radio show "Benny Hill Time" on the BBC Light Programme.

Film Career

Although mostly known for television, Hill acted in five feature films. His first was the slapstick crime comedy "Who Done It?," which came out in 1956. Hill next appeared in "Light Up the Sky!" in 1960. In 1965, he had a supporting role as Fire Chief Perkins in the epic period comedy "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines." Hill had another supporting part, as the Toymaker, in the 1968 musical fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." His final feature film was the 1969 comedy caper "The Italian Job," in which he played computer expert Professor Simon Peach.

Songs

Hill wrote and performed some comedy songs that gained recognition and radio play. In the early 1960s, he released such songs as "Gather in the Mushrooms," "Pepys' Diary," "Transistor Radio," and "Harvest of Love." Hill's most renowned comedy song was "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)," an innuendo-heavy tune that became the UK Christmas number-one single in 1971. For that song, he won an Ivor Novello Award.

Personal Life and Death

Hill never married or had children, although he allegedly proposed to three women who all rejected him. Despite his wealth, he maintained a parsimonious lifestyle, always renting instead of buying a flat, never purchasing a car, and mending his clothes instead of buying new ones. The only luxury he gave himself was traveling to France, where he often went to satisfy his Francophilia.

Hill began struggling with health problems in the late 1980s. In early 1992, he had a heart attack, and a week later he was diagnosed with kidney failure. Hill refused treatment for both, and on April 18, 1992, he died in his armchair at his flat in Teddington, London. He was interred at Hollybrook Cemetery in Southampton.

Who's Richer?

Benny
Hill

Compare!

Barbara
Windsor