Films' producer leaves £3.5million

The legendarily tight-fisted producer of the Carry On films has left £3.5million in his will.

But Peter Rogers’ fortune will finally be used to help actors – as it goes to a charity that lends a hand to those who have fallen on hard times.

The co-creator of the comedy series died in April, at the age of 95, having made a fortune from the lucrative franchise.

Most of the classic films were made for less than £200,000, earning Rogers a reputation of Scrooge-like figure from the stars. He once joke he would ‘do anything for my actors except pay them’.

While actors such as Kenneth Williams and Sid James, took home a maximum of £5,000 a film, Rogers paid himself three times that amount, took a third of the profits, and treated himself to a new Rolls-Royce every year.

Rogers, who had no children, bequeathed the money to the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund, which described the gift as ‘fantastic’.

Published: 9 Aug 2009