Doc Martin star Eileen Atkins once faced a financial disaster that almost bankrupted her and her husband. The actress, who played Ruth Ellingham in 46 episodes of the Martin Clunes show, might have a BAFTA, a Primetime Emmy and two Olivier Awards to her name, but when she decided to invest in the wrong project, everything went downhill.
Back in 1997, Eileen penned a screenplay for a film adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, securing actress Vanessa Redgrave in the starring role. Despite positive reviews, the film proved to be a box office flop, and a “disaster” for Eileen and her producer husband Bill Shepherd, who both put their own money into the project.
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“I don’t have a pension. Bill doesn’t have a pension. In any case, it doesn’t hurt me to work. I think it’s quite good, actually.”
Sadly, Bill died in 2016, leaving Eileen a widow.
Growing up, Eileen knew what it was like to live frugally. She grew up in a Tottenham council estate after being born in a Salvation Army maternity hospital in London, and said her parents were “always on the edge”.
Speaking to The Telegraph in 2022, she gave an update on her financial situation, explaining that she stumbled into tax trouble and had “broker’s men” appear at her flat in Knightsbridge.
She said: “One year I got into trouble with tax, like most actors, because it’s so hard to pay a year later. I didn’t work out how much I’d earned and would have to pay.
“The broker’s men” came to my Knightsbridge flat. That taught me a horrible lesson. I wrote a cheque then and there and it was alright.”
Eileen revealed her “worst financial situation” was marrying her second husband Bill, who had “already been bankrupt and promised me he never would again”. Instead, she says he took her to “near-bankruptcy” not once but twice.
She added: “He had three Aston Martins and selling them nearly sorted out the first one. But I helped him get out of bankruptcy twice, with common sense.”
Thankfully, Eileen now has a property portfolio, with a house worth around £2.5million.
