Huge ITV star died penniless and almost buried in 'pauper's grave' despite iconic career

A TV legend, who earned millions in his heyday and once appeared on ITV's I'm a Celeb, had his burial funded by a stranger after dying "penniless". Comedian Freddie Starr was a huge hit in the 1970s and 80s, but was reportedly on the verge of being made homeless from his one-bed townhouse on the Costa del Sol in Spain, at the time of his death in 2019.

At the time, there were worries that the TV personality, who had succumbed to a fatal heart attack aged 76, would be given a pauper's funeral and buried abroad - despite his wishes being that he would be laid to rest back home in Britain. His Bulgarian carer Nelly Georgieva, who found him dead, said: "Freddie had bad feelings about back home so I think he would want to stay here rather than to try and be repatriated. But I need to speak to his family to see how they feel. He felt the British people had deserted him. It would be terrible if Freddie ends up being buried in a pauper's grave. I don't want to see that happen but I'm worried if I tried to do something about it his relatives would object."

The caretaker, who had worked for Freddie for four years, also expressed concern about his family not being in contact with him and carrying out his wishes would be "very expensive". Freddie left behind six children and three ex-wives plus a fourth who is now his widow.

Nelly said: "I haven't heard from any of his relatives and it's something that's worrying me. I hope someone from the family contacts me or the authorities. In the four years I worked for him I never saw any of his family visit him or phone him.

"If the family want him to have a funeral in the UK then it could be very expensive to get him there. I have no money here. There is a pile of unpaid bills inside."

Eventually, Michael Fogg, a man who didn't know the comedian, stepped in to give him a funeral in Britain because "he should be buried with people who love him". The Sheffield-based funeral director offered to pay for the repatriation and burial of Freddie's body at no cost to his grieving family.

Explaining the generous decision, Mr Fogg said: "Anyone who can make a funeral director laugh must be a bloody good comedian. And Freddie Starr could make me laugh.

"For those asking why I am paying, well it is my money, it is my business and that is what I want to spend my money on. He should be back with the people he loved and back with his family. He shouldn't be buried in foreign land, he should be brought back to be in his own country."