Daughter of beloved British actress dies suddenly at 27 while studying at Columbia University

Detailed summary

Lisa Maxwell’s daughter, Beau Jessup, was studying journalism at Columbia University in NYC when she died at the age of 27.

“The Bill” alum Lisa Maxwell’s daughter, Beau Jessup, has died. She was 27.

Columbia University in New York City announced the M.S. Journalism student’s unexpected death via Instagram Wednesday.

“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved her,” a separate statement read.

While the Ivy League school didn’t disclose Jessup’s cause of death, it released an unpublished interview with Jessup from last month, which was conducted as part of its “Notebook” series.

According to the university, the college student was drawn toward “cultural journalism, particularly how institutions, identity, and social expectations influence the way we live and understand one another.”

Jessup told the publication her interest in reporting was sparked during her studies of social anthropology and writing for performance at the London School of Economics and the University of Cambridge, respectively.

She was six months shy of graduating with her master’s degree in May 2027.

In the interview, Jessup also reflected on growing up in a famous household with her mom, a “Loose Women” panelist, explaining, “As the daughter of a television actress, 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,” she said.

Opening of the article, excerpted from New York Post. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.