He worked his whole life to make a name for himself on the big screen but it wasn't enough to leave his family any sort of fortune – not even after a prime-time TV career.

After starring in an impressive 11 series of the adored BBC show, Dalziel and Pascoe, and a number of hit films, including A Clockwork Orange, reports suggest the British acting legend left his loved ones virtually nothing after his death.

Warren Clarke died at 67 in his sleep after experiencing a short illness back in 2014, and his ending became even more tragic when his fortune was revealed.

It's believed his estate amounted to £13,056, already less than what you'd expect of a huge TV star, before it was reduced down to nothing after outstanding debts were settled.

Best known for playing Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel in the BBC crime drama from 1996 all the way up until 2007, Clarke had come a long way from his humble beginnings in Oldham, Lancashire. His career had put him in the spotlight, and he was soon enough rubbing shoulders with some of the famous faces he'd spent years watching on screen.

One of his most significant roles saw him star as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's iconic film, A Clockwork Orange, in 1971. Although he later appeared in the likes of Red Riding, I.D., Sleepers and the 2015 series Poldark, to name a few.

Despite all of this fame, spanning several decades, his acting career never seemed to quite pay off, and it's something he wasn't shy of talking about. Throughout his time as an actor he often was vocal about the low salaries of BBC TV actors, having once explained how he was paid in an interview.

Clarke said: "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."

The actor shared a life with his wife Michelle, whom he met decades earlier, before they married in 1987. She was also no stranger to the spotlight as a performer herself, and together they went on to have a daughter, Georgia, now his youngest child, second to his eldest son, Rowan, from his previous marriage.

They remained married until the day Clarke sadly died, leaving his wife of almost 30 years widowed.

As for his financial situation, it was reported by the Daily Mail that a huge amount of his earnings were lost in an investment gone wrong. Clarke had invested in a spy thriller movie named The Numbers Station in 2013, starring John Cusack, but it went on to be a flop.

At the time of his death he was still starring in the hit series Poldark, and they broadcast an episode featuring the character's on-screen death, which was filmed after his sudden death in real life.