While Bob Monkhouse was known for being a funnyman, off screen his real life was anything but. In 1975 his first work partner Dennis Goodwin committed suicide in the throes of depression.

Since then, Bob lost both of his sons - the oldest, Gary, suffered from cerebral palsy and suffocated after choking on vomit in his sleep in 1992, aged 40. The second, Simon, died of a heroin overdose aged 46 in 2001. Speaking about the death of his eldest, the actor and comedian previously said: "I was so close to Gary and I honestly believed he would be the sort of person who would always be around because he had such willpower and had fought so hard all his life. It was hard for me because I was in the West Indies when he died and I think part of me just kept hoping that it wasn't true. They told me he didn't suffer when he died and that he'd had one of the best days of his life out at the fair with a great friend of his, and I do so hope that was true."

Meanwhile, Simon, a stand-up poet, was found dead of a heroin overdose in a hotel in northern Thailand in April 2001. His body was reportedly found slumped with a syringe still embedded in his arm. At an inquest, his verdict of death was found to be due to non-dependent drug abuse.

Coroner Dr Paul Knapman said: "I don't think we have evidence here the deceased committed suicide. The one thread going through this whole story is one of drugs and heroin, and I am going to say the cause of death is opiate poisoning. I don't find sufficient evidence that he was an addict."

At the time, his agent Peter Prichard said that Bob was "shattered" by the sad news. He said: "We have cancelled the work at the moment. He was due to be working tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday, but he is too upset to carry on at present." As a result, the comedian pulled out of the Bafta TV awards ceremony, where he was due to present the prize for best entertainment performance.

Reports also stated that Simon and his father were estranged, and they had not spoken for 13 years before his death.

In 1988, Simon was in the news after being mugged for the fourth time near to the council house where he lived alone. At that time, Bob had apparently tried to contact his son but failed to heal the rift.

After the death, Bob said: "Simon was different. I think in time we would have reconciled, but he just struggled so much to cope with life. He was such a talented, funny boy, but after I divorced my first wife he took her side and I didn't try and stop that because I thought his mother needed him. I regret that now, very much.

"The worst thing about his funeral was that his stepfather and friends read some of his poetry and it was wonderful, very funny, brilliant. And it turned out that he had been performing it in rooms above pubs in South London and I never knew. I would have gone anywhere to see him perform and I just had no idea."