1 week Ago By Leah Stanfield
Porridge star Richard Beckinsale died in his sleep in 1979, aged just 31, leaving behind his second wife Judy Loe and two daughters, Samantha and Kate . That year, Beckinsale had wrapped up the classic BBC comedy and was working on a new sitcom, Bloomers, set in a florist's shop. Prior to his death, Beckinsale had complained to his wife about not feeling well - visiting the doctor after suffering blackouts and dizzy spells.
However, his GP reassured him there was nothing wrong, attributing his symptoms to slightly high cholesterol levels and an overactive stomach lining. On March 31, 1979, Beckinsale had a heart attack and died. A post-mortem later revealed he had a congenital heart defect, undetectable if not looked for.
In a heartbreaking prediction before his death, he told his wife Judy: “I’m going to die before my time.” The actor also said he was “terrified of being alone in the house” and “afraid of death”. She recalled in David Clayton’s 2008 book, The Richard Beckinsale Story: “He talked about life and death a great deal.
” The last time Judy saw her husband of two years was before she was admitted to hospital for an operation. Describing their final interaction, she said: “Just before he left, Richard hugged me. I looked at him and thought how strong and capable he seemed.
” Just days after his death, the BAFTA Awards took place in London, where his Porridge co-star Ronnie Barker delivered a tearful tribute during his acceptance speech. The comedy legend never came to terms with Beckinsale’s death and many believe it prompted him to retreat from public life. “When I was told I burst into tears because it was so outrageous that he should have died.
He hadn’t done very much but he was so loved that there was a universal sort of grief that went on,” Barker said as reported by the Express in 2008. His actress daughter Kate has been haunted by the loss to this day , and she has confessed that watching her father's old television shows brings her comfort as it makes her feel closer to him. The Underworld star spoke in 2013 about the toll that losing a parent at just five years old took on her.
She said: “It was a terrible loss. It’s so weird as a five-year-old to look out in the street and see people reading the paper and crying while you’re crying and your mum is crying and your granny’s crying. “Even though it was the worst loss that I have experienced, I was able to share it with people who genuinely, even if they didn’t know him, really seemed to love him.
“I feel not many people are in that position – to have lost somebody and also to feel like that’s something really relevant to other people.” Porridge (1979) airs on BBC Two at 6.05pm.
