BBC star died penniless and wife had to sell engagement ring despite hit film

He’s the star of 11 series of a hit BBC show, with an illustrious prime-time TV career including Dalziel and Pascoe and Poldark. But Warren Clarke left behind an estate of just £13,056, which was reduced to £0 after outstanding debts were settled.

The Oldham-born actor died aged 67, but during his life, he often spoke out about the low salaries paid to BBC TV actors. His wife Michele was once forced to sell her engagement ring to pay the bills. He explained in an interview: “In those days the BBC didn’t pay you until you had done the first studio recording, so I had been working on the show for two months without any money.

“I went to the cashpoint, put my card in the machine and it spat it out.

“A few months later, I noticed that my wife wasn’t wearing her engagement ring. I asked her where it was and she explained it was being repaired.”

According to the Daily Mail, Warren was understood to have lost a large amount of money after investing in a spy thriller in 2013 called The Numbers Station, starring John Cusack, which flopped after being panned as ‘glum’.

Clarke’s best-known role was as the outspoken police detective Andrew Dalziel, alongside Colin Buchanan as Pascoe for 11 years. His last role was as Charles Poldark in the BBC costume drama alongside Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington.

But Clarke also starred in some huge cinema roles, including as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

He also appeared in Sleepers in 1991 alongside Nigel Havers, as well as dramas including Bleak House and The Invisibles on the BBC.

Tragically, the character’s death on screen in Poldark was actually broadcast after the actor’s death in real life. He died in his sleep at the age of 67 in November 2014 following a short illness.