Millionaire Freddie Starr ‘left £50 notes spinning in washing machine’ and was addicted to drugs, claims ex-housekeeper
Sue Englefield says she never knew what to expect during the three years she cleaned Starr's home
Sue Englefield says she never knew what to expect during the three years she cleaned Starr's home
FREDDIE Starr’s former housekeeper has revealed the “madhouse” he lived in saying the comic was addicted to drugs.
Sue Englefield, 60, spent three years in the 1990s looking after the star and his Maidenhead home but said she never knew what to expect when she went to work.
She even spotted a load of £50 notes tumbling around inside the washing machine.
Freddie, who died of a heart attack last week aged 76, could have her in fits of laughter one day but the next he could be wandering around his home in a Valium-induced fog, waving his gun around.
Sue told : “He’d try to make me laugh or get me to have a cuppa with him – or something stronger.
“Other times he was high as a kite and didn’t notice me. He was drug dependent. I got the sense the funny persona was a mask hiding a miserable, dark man.
“He was never aggressive or inappropriate with me, but I was a bit frightened of him.”
Sue was Freddie’s cleaner for his seven-bedroom mansion which came with an indoor pool, sunken baths with gold taps, a gym and a bar between 1992 and 1995.
Freddie’s second wife Sandy interviewed her for the job and Sue even babysat the couple’s three children.
Sue said: “He could be hilarious, doing impressions or teaching his parrot to say f*** off.”
She also recalled “hilarious” dinner parties he would have with pal Jim Davidson, saying they were like “comedy brothers”.
Sue though also witnessed some dark times as well, including the end of his 15-year-old marriage amid accusations he was having affairs.
“You see a lot in this job. You learn to stay out of it,” she said.
Starr had coronary artery disease and had a quadruple bypass following a heart attack in 2010.
A post-mortem carried out on May 10 at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Malaga confirmed the heart attack theory as his cause of death.
Police sources had said immediately after the discovery of heavy smoker Freddie’s body at his Costa del Sol home there seemed nothing suspicious about his death and everything was pointing towards it being the result of natural causes.
The comic’s carer found him slumped on the floor by his sofa after returning from a quick shopping trip.
A well-placed source said: “Freddie Starr died from a heart attack. There is absolutely no doubt.
“He had a history of heart problems and the autopsy has revealed a heart attack was the cause of his death.”
The entertainer was one of the biggest stars of the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Fans loved his wacky, wild, and unpredictable behaviour.
But Starr's haunting last Facebook before his death was today revealed - with the comedian admitting he was "getting tired more".
He wrote: "I’m OK getting tired more now but otherwise I’m doing good.
“I just have to say thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the kind comments and messages it really does mean a lot so thank you to each and everyone of you thanks so much. Freddie.”
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