Dennis Waterman was best known for his tough-guy roles on screen, but life away from the camera saw him struggle with his love life.
And later on in his life, the New Tricks actor finally found the one in fourth wife Pam Flint, who was at his side when he died at their home in Spain, aged 74.
The pair were just friends for years until they finally tied the knot in November 2011, with the couple enduring difficult moments in their relationship – namely Pam’s bladder cancer diagnosis in 2006, writes The Mirror.
Recalling the moment he discovered that his wife had cancer, Dennis said at the time: “That C word is the worst thing you can hear. Matthew and I were just stunned. The first thing we did was go outside and have a cigarette. I mean how dumb was that?
“Because we were men, and for Pam’s sake, we couldn’t fall apart.”
Thankfully, Pam was able to have lifesaving surgery, during which time Dennis supported her fiercely.
While he admitted at the time that he wasn’t usually good with other people being ill, Pam had said: “I couldn’t have had a better partner to see me through this.”
But the road to his happy marriage wth Pam was a rocky one.
His first marriage was to Penny Dixon, who he dated for a year before they got married in 1972. The marriage lasted four years before the couple divorced in 1976.
(Image: PA)
Just one year later, Dennis married actress Patricia Maynard, who he had two daughters with.
One of his daughters is actress Hannah Waterman, best known for her role as Ian Beale’s tragic wife Laura in EastEnders. In a case of life imitating art, she also starred alongside him in New Tricks as his character’s daughter.
The same year he divorced Patricia, Dennis married Rula Lenska and the marriage lasted 11 years until 1998.
Their marriage ultimately ended due to his violent behaviour towards her and he caused an uproar over incredibly controversial comments he made about their relationship to Piers Morgan.
He told him while filming an episode of Life Stories in 2012: “It’s not difficult for a woman to make a man hit her. She certainly wasn’t a beaten wife, she was hit and that’s different.”
(Image: BBC ONE)
Their marriage ultimately ended due to his violent behaviour towards her and he caused an uproar over incredibly controversial comments he made about their relationship to Piers Morgan.
He told him while filming an episode of Life Stories in 2012: “It’s not difficult for a woman to make a man hit her. She certainly wasn’t a beaten wife, she was hit and that’s different.”
Despite first becoming friends with Pam in 1996, it would take another 15 years until they married – a stark difference to his previous marriages.
Speaking in 2006 after her surgery, Pam gushed out their relationship as she said: “Dennis has never made me feel that it has made the slightest difference to him. All I ever see in his eyes is total love.”
He added: “She’s the same person. She isn’t any less attractive to me. I’m not aware of any different feelings. I admire her so much for how she has coped.”
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