The lauded Sir Kenneth ‘Ken’ Arthur Dodd delighted fans for more than six decades with his unique stand-up and eccentric characters. The lifelong Liverpool resident, who is best known for his one-liners and ‘tickling stick’ shows, continued starring on stage up until months before his death at the age of 90.

Born in Knotty Ash in November 1927, Ken remains one of the “last great music hall entertainers”. The comedian - whose influences included Tommy Handley, Robb Wilton and Arthur Askey - appeared in everything from the BBC’s The Good Old Days to Doctor Who as well as starring in Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 Academy Award-winning film, Hamlet.

Months after receiving his knighthood for services to the entertainment and charity sectors, Ken was struck down with a serious chest infection. On January 12, 2018, the star was whisked to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital for treatment.

After six weeks at the institution, the funnyman was allowed to return home to his long-term partner, Lady Anne Jones, whom he married two days before his death. "I have been so very well treated and I can't praise the staff at the hospital too highly,” Ken said upon leaving the medical institution.

“The porridge here is remarkable,” he continued. "I thought I was Mr Happiness and all of a sudden just before Christmas - bang.”

After remarking how “beautiful” it was to be “going home”, Kenn vowed that he would return to his comedy career, having written up some “new material” on his sickbed, as per MailOnline.

However, two weeks after his discharge, Ken’s publicist, Robert Holmes, announced the “front-cloth” comic’s death after complications from bronchitis, aged 90.

“Anne is obviously very upset,” he said at the time. “They had been together for 40 years. It’s a love story to beat them all."

Despite seemingly not being interested in marriage, Ken and Anne said ‘I do’ at his childhood home in Knotty Ash, with a signet being exchanged instead of a traditional wedding ring.

"The world has lost the most life-enhancing, brilliant and creative comedian," Anne said following her late husband’s death.

"He lived to perfect his art and entertain his live and adoring audiences."

Following the news of Ken’s death to the common disease and his surprise marriage, Sarah Coles, a personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, discussed how the wedding could affect Ken’s will.

“In addition to the enormous emotional resonance a wedding carries, there are also tremendous differences between the ways that a partner and a spouse are treated when it comes to inheritance tax,” she said at the time

“Assets can be passed between spouses free of inheritance tax, which can make an enormous difference to the tax due.”

It’s understood that despite not having a will at the time of his death, Ken left behind a remarkable fortune of £27.7 million.

The majority of this was dedicated to supporting businesses and projects in his hometown, including Clatterbridge Hospital, an NHS facility in Bebington, Merseyside.

"He got involved with Clatterbridge because his previous fiancee had been treated there, and he did a lot for Cancer Research and Macmillan,” his widow revealed.

"I said what's on your bucket list and they said a radio and television in every room and so he's done that, I'm very pleased with that.”

The remainder of his money was bequeathed to Anne, who has since taken an active role in the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation.

The charity, founded in 2013, supports performing arts charities and organisations while encouraging children and young people to pursue passions in the creative sector.

“He did set [the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation] up before he died but we didn't have much time to get into projects,” Anne revealed.

"We just about completed this work on our church hall which his money has completely renovated.”