Ventriloquist Keith Harris, best known for Orville the Duck, revealed he had lost his entire £7 million career earnings because of his dyslexia, just one year before his death in 2015.
Harris made his television debut in 1965 on the series Let's Laugh, beginning a lucrative career that made him a familiar face on TV variety programmes. He was given his own show, Cuddles and Company, and appeared regularly on the BBC's The Good Old Days.
Career highlights and chart success
His most famous creation, Orville the Duck, reached number 4 in the UK singles chart with 'Orville's Song', which sold 400,000 copies in 1983. His popularity peaked with The Keith Harris Show, broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC1 from 1982 to 1986, and The Quack Chat Show, which ran from 1989 to 1990.
His appeal among children was such that Princess Diana booked him to entertain guests at Prince William and Prince Harry's third birthday parties.
Financial losses and dyslexia
By 2013, Harris had been married four times and had three children. At the age of 65, he underwent chemotherapy to battle cancer. After his recovery, he revealed that he had lost millions of pounds as a direct result of his dyslexia.
"I've made about £7 million throughout my career, but I've lost it all too," he told the Daily Mail. "I can't read or write. Reading contracts? I didn't, I just signed them. I got into trouble many times. I signed myself away for 14 years to someone once - 25 per cent I was paying. I had no idea."
Continuing to work and final years
Harris said he had been brought up to trust others but learned that "you have to be very careful," as "people want to see if they can make money out of you." The financial setbacks meant he felt compelled to keep working even after serious medical procedures.
"You can't just sit around feeling sorry for yourself," he said. "There's nothing for kids to laugh at now, but I'm not complaining. I've done very well, and I still do very well. I'm one of the highest-paid people at Butlin's. I've got ideas for television. I thought I could do a TV show with Cuddles (his other puppet) and Orville that teaches children manners. But the TV people don't like to back an old horse. They say, 'I don't think it's what we want any more.'"
Just 12 months later, in 2014, Harris's cancer returned. He died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2015, aged 67, and is now regarded as one of Britain's greatest children's entertainment legends.
