She made her name playing the matriarch of the hard-up Boswell family in the 1980s sitcom Bread.
But veteran actress Jean Boht rose from a relatively humble upbringing on the Wirral to amass a huge fortune with her American composer husband Carl Davis – and live in palatial luxury in an eight bedroom Georgian town house as near neighbours of the late Queen.
The couple spent many years in the magnificent Grade Two* listed house in Windsor – a world away from the Boswell family’s fictional terraced home in the working class Dingle area of Liverpool.
Their house which backs on to Long Drive next to Windsor Castle and was previously home to several Royal doctors serving former Monarchs sold for £2.75million in 2022.
Boht who grew up in far less salubrious surroundings on the Wirral in Merseyside revealed in an interview in 2012 that she and her husband ‘had no money at all until the 80s’ until his career as a composer and conductor took off.
She said: ‘Carl composed the score for the documentary series The World At War in the 70s, but he only got a monthly salary, and I earned just £18 a week until I starred in Bread in the 80s. It got 20 million viewers and changed my life.’
MailOnline revealed exclusively this week how Boht left a net estate of £2,621,271 after she died aged 91 from Alzheimer’s complications in September 2023.
Her will left everything to her two daughters as her BAFTA-winning husband died aged 86 just six weeks before her.
Veteran actress Jean Boht, pictured, made her name as Mo Boswell in Bread. She rose from a relatively humble upbringing on the Wirral to amass a huge fortune
Jean has previously said that she and her husband – the US Carl Davis had no money until the 80s before his career took off. Towards the end of their married lived the couple lived in this eight bedroom Georgian town house worth £2.75million
The magnificent property Jean and Carl called home was described by estate agents as ‘one of the most prominent and convenient positions in Windsor’ – and is close to the famed Long Walk
The couple’s home was briefly put on the market for £3.25million in 2015, which boasted six bathrooms and four ‘generously proportioned’ reception rooms over five floors
The life that Jean enjoyed with her hugely successful composer husband Carl who wrote the music for film classic The French Lieutenant’s Woman in 1981 is a world away from the character she played a Mo Boswell – the head of the hard-up Boswell clan from Liverpool
Estate agent details for the couple’s impressive Windsor home – from when they briefly put it on the market for £3.25million in 2015 – have now been unearthed.
Family pictures of Boht and her American-British husband including several from the early days of their 53-year marriage, showing them with their young daughters, have also emerged.
Mr Davis had ended up being hugely successful, writing the music for film classic The French Lieutenant’s Woman in 1981, and the BBC drama Pride and Prejudice in 1995.
Probate records reveal that he left his £2.4million estate in the UK in trust. It is possible that the bulk of it could have gone to Boht to avoid inheritance tax which is not payable on legacies to spouses.
However, Boht’s family will not escape having to pay a huge tax bill of potentially more than £750,000 on her estate.
The couple lived in a townhouse in Chelsea before moving to their home in Windsor which boasted six bathrooms and four ‘generously proportioned’ reception rooms over five floors.
It was described by the agents as being in ‘one of the most prominent and convenient positions in Windsor’ behind a high brick wall graced with a decorative iron gate.
Features included a unique central staircase extending the full height of the house, a stained-glass window, fine period fireplaces, oak flooring, original servants’ bells and high ceilings with moulded cornices.
It also had walled gardens with a patio providing an ‘al fresco’ dining area and steps to a lawn, edged by well stocked herbaceous borders with magnolia, walnut, weeping willow and plum trees.
The house built in 1793, was previously home to the personal Surgery-Apothecary doctors to George III, George IV and Queen Victoria before being sold in around 1890 to the maternal family of the late Queen Mother.
The impressive heritage of the property is a world away from the terraced home of acid-tongued Nellie Boswell in the much-loved sitcom Bread which was created by writer Carla Lane, and ran for seven series from 1986 to 1991.
Jean Boht and celebrated American composer Carl Davis were happily married for 53 years
Family pictures of Boht and her American-British husband including several from the early days of their long marriage, showing them with their young daughters, have also emerged
Carl and Jean are pictured with their filmmaker daughters Hannah Law and Jessie Stevenson
Carl died in August 2023 and Jean passed away aged 91 from Alzheimer’s in the September
Boht’s character known affectionately as Ma Boswell ruled over her working class family with an iron fist as they tried to make cash to survive through illicit and legal moneymaking schemes.
The actress was born in Bebington, Cheshire in 1932 and attended Wirral Grammar School for Girls.
Her father Thomas Dance was a confectionery importer and chief entertainment officer of the local fire brigade, while her mother Edna was a pianist.
As a child, she and her sister joined their parents in a Dance Family troupe putting on shows in the wartime blitz at service camps and hospitals across Cheshire and Lancashire.
Boht’s professional career began as a £1-a-week apprentice at the Liverpool Playhouse before she joined as a full time actor and assistant stage manager.
She made her West End debut in 1964 and went on to appear in the Bristol Old Vic and before returning to Liverpool to appear alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins, Lynda La Plante and Sir Patrick Stewart.
But her career only really took off when Bread made her a household name, leading her to being crowned as BBC TV Personality 1988 by the Variety Club of Great Britain, and winning her a British Comedy Award for best TV comedy actress in 1990.
Her character was forever trying to make sure her children contributed to their upkeep as she struggled to keep wayward husband Freddie away from his mistress Lilo Lil who was referred to as ‘that tart’.
Jean’s will left everything to her two daughters Hannah, 52, of Pasadena, California, and Jessie who lives in Maidenhead
Her family released this tribute: ‘Jean had been battling vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned’
By the time she died, Jean had left her Windsor home and was living in the Denville Hall care home in north west London, for actors and people in the entertainment industry
The show was such a success that 21 million viewers tuned in to watch the wedding of Nellie’s daughter Aveline, played by Gilly Coman, to Oswald, played by Giles Watling, making it the second most popular show of the year in 1988, behind only EastEnders.
There were regular complaints about its bad language before the 9pm watershed while some in Liverpool accused the programme of stereotyping Scousers as work-shy benefit cheats.
In 1991, when the series ended, Boht toured Britain in the stage show, Bread – The Final Slice.
Boht then went on to star with Sheila Hancock, Wendy Craig and Sheila Gish in the comedy Brighton Belles, a British remake of the American hit The Golden Girls, screened between 1993 and 1994.
She also appeared in numerous other TV shows such as Softly Softly, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Last Of The Summer Wine, Grange Hill, Juliet Bravo, Boys From The Blackstuff and Doctors
Her stage work included roles at the Royal Court, the National Theatre and at the Chichester Festival, as well as numerous West End theatres, and her film appearances included The Girl in a Swing, Bad Night for the Blues and Mothers and Daughters.
Boht’s first marriage, to cinema boss William Boht who was 30 years her senior, ended in divorce in 1970.
Jean’s career began as a £1-a-week apprentice at the Liverpool Playhouse and she became a much-loved legend of the small screen watched by 21 million viewers in the hit sitcom Bread
At the time of her death, she was living in the Denville Hall care home in north west London, for actors and people in the entertainment industry.
Her will left everything to her two filmmaker daughters Hannah Law, 52, of Pasadena, California, and Jessie Stevenson, 50, of Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Boht’s family paid tribute to her after her death, saying: ‘Jean had been battling vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.’
The statement also thanked Denville Hall staff for taking ‘such wonderful care of Jean and also to the staff at Hillingdon Hospital who made her so comfortable’.
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