The Liverpudlian entertainer died at the age of 90 at his home in Knotty Ash earlier this year, less than two weeks after he was discharged from hospital. Sir Ken Dodd had been recovering from a severe chest infection and his wife Anne said she made him comfortable in his final weeks. “I put a stairlift in, I put rails everywhere, a wonderful adjustable bed,” she tsaid in a documentary about his life, set to air tonight. “Filled the house with things to make his life comfortable while he was getting better,” she added.
Opening up about their marriage, Ken’s partner of over four decades explained: “We’d always said we’d get married at some time.
“Apparently he was talking to our vicar and asked if there was a way it could be done privately, very quietly,” she continued.
“Julia Jesson the vicar came over and friends Peter and Colette and two registrars. Licenses were done, whatever paperwork was filled.
“Somehow it happened. He said his vows and I was saying my vows,” Anne recalled. “It was a normal wedding ceremony.
“And we had a blessing afterwards, which was all very beautiful. It happened.
“Obviously I’m very glad it did, and I think he was,” she added.
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Anne first starting dating comedian Ken when he was 50, after his long-term partner Anita Boutin died of a brain tumour in 1977.
The former Bluebell dancer, who also performed alongside Ken in his shows as Miss Sybie Jones, said she had always found him attractive.
“I always thought he was good looking,” she said. “His big teeth didn’t bother me.”
Ken was famous for his marathon stand-up shows and last performed a year ago.
His iconic tickling sticks adorned the city of Liverpool after his death as the city mourned the loss of the legendary comic.
Fans lined the streets to pay their respects at his public funeral ceremony earlier this year, at which the likes of Jimmy Tarbuck and Stephanie Cole paid tribute.
In the cathedral, Jimmy addressed the congregation, saying: “I’m pleased for Ken that there’s yet another full house.
“Was he a good comic? No — he was better than that. He was the greatest stage comedian I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Stars including Ricky Tomlinson, Miriam Margolyes and Jimmy Cricket were also in attendance.
Ken Dodd: How Tickled We Were airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two.