Only Fools creator leaves £8.4m

Cushty

Only Fools And Horses creator John Sullivan left £8.4million, his will revealed yesterday.

He amassed the fortune from virtually nothing, having grown up in a working-class family in South London and leaving school at 15 without qualifications.

He spent 15 years working in low-paid jobs, continually – but unsuccessfully – submitting scripts to the BBC. Eventually, while working in the Corporation’s props department he approached producer Dennis Main Wilson with a pilot script, which would become Citizen Smith.

Sullivan followed that with Only Fools which, at its peak, attracted more than 24 million viewers. He also wrote Dear John, Just Good Friends and the Only Fools spin-off The Green Green Grass, among others.

He died in April aged 64, leaving his fortune in trust to his wife Sharon. He left three children – including Jim Sullivan, also a sitcom writer who worked on Green Green Grass – and two grandchildren.

Published: 21 Dec 2011

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