Anna Karen leaves over £400,000 to EastEnders co-star after her death in tragic house fire

express.co.uk:

EastEnders, has left the majority of her fortune to Sophie Lawrence, it has been claimed.Sophie, 50, played Diane Butcher in the BBC soap and was a regular from 1988 to 1991.The late star – whose real name was Ann Duggan – also appeared in EastEnders between 1996 and 2017, playing Aunt Sal, sister of Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor.Her character, who was the aunt of Grant and Phil Mitchell, was usually seen turning up at family weddings and parties.Anna was also known for her role as Olive in the 70s comedy, On The Buses.In probate records obtained by MailOnline, Anna is said to have left £427,197, to her former co-star, adding she would receive 65 per cent of the late soap star's estate.Anna's will left a further fifth of the residuary of her estate to her stepdaughter Gloria Gill, the daughter of her actor husband Terry Duggan, who died in 2008.Another eighth was left to four other friends or relatives and the final 2.5 per cent was left to the Actors' Benevolent Fund.Earlier this year, Anna died in a house fire started by a cigarette, according to reports.Following her death, her family told the same publication: "We are absolutely horrified at the news about Anna."A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade confirmed the death in a statement released at the time.It read: "Sadly, a woman has died following a house fire on Windsor Road in Ilford."They added: "Part of the ground floor of a mid-terrace house was damaged by fire.Sadly a woman was pronounced dead at the scene.The Brigade was called at 2240 and the fire was under control by 2338.Three fire engines and around 20 firefighters from Ilford and Barking fire stations attended the incident.The cause of the fire is under investigation."Jayne Mansfield stuns in.