How Did Beau Jessup Die? British Actress and TV Presenter Lisa Maxwell’s Daughter Dies Suddenly Aged 27 While Studying at Columbia University

The only child of prominent British actress and television presenter Lisa Maxwell and her husband Paul Jessup has died at the age of 27 while studying at Columbia University in New York City. Beau Jessup died unexpectedly, Columbia University announced on Wednesday in a post on its social media accounts.

The university did not provide further details, including the circumstances surrounding her death, where or when it occurred, or its cause. Maxwell appeared as a panelist on Loose Women, the British version of The View. She also spent seven years starring in the police drama The Bill. An investigation has been launched by the NYPD following her death.

Mysterious Death

A spokesperson for Columbia said: “Columbia Journalism School mourns the loss of Beau Jessup, a student in our M.S. program. We join Jessup’s family, friends and classmates in remembering her.”

Jessup was enrolled in the Ivy League university’s journalism master’s program and appeared in a photo of the Class of 2027 shared by the school in September. She was expected to complete her degree next May.

Maxwell had also posted the photograph on her X account, congratulating the students and expressing pride in her daughter. “Congratulations guys! Especially my daughter Beau over in NYC making us all super proud,” she wrote.

Before relocating to the United States, Jessup studied at the London School of Economics and later attended the University of Cambridge.

Columbia Journalism School also shared a recent interview with Jessup that had been conducted before her death.

In the interview, Jessup reflected on what it was like growing up with a famous mother and how that shaped her interest in journalism. “I grew up with an unusual awareness of the distance between people’s lives and the stories told about them.

“I saw how journalism could illuminate someone’s experiences, but also how those experiences could be distorted, simplified, or transformed into a public narrative over which the subject had very little control.

“I was curious, from quite a young age, about who gets to tell people’s stories, and what happens when those stories enter the public domain,” she said.

Her mother had also come close to securing a major role in American television. Maxwell was originally chosen to play Daphne Moon in the sitcom Frasier but was later replaced by Jane Leeves. She also appeared in The Benny Hill Show.

Big Dreams Come to End

Jessup had ambitions of becoming a journalist and writer after completing her degree. Explaining her career aspirations, she said she was “drawn to journalism for its power and immediacy.” In an email to students obtained by the Daily Mail, Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb remembered Jessup as a “cherished member” of the university community.

“There is no easy way to share news of this nature and I recognize how painful it is to receive messages like this one.

“Any loss within our school family is difficult to process, and our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Beau’s family and friends during this heartbreaking time,” Cobb wrote.

Jessup’s father runs a toy company specializing in teddy bears. She had previously attracted international attention for building a successful business that helped Chinese parents choose English names for their children. Her venture reportedly provided names for more than 250,000 children.

In a 2016 interview with the Daily Mail, Jessup, then 16, revealed that her business had earned her $63,000. Jessup said the business idea came to her while visiting China, where friends expecting their first child repeatedly asked her to suggest suitable English names for their babies.