The husband of Extras actress Ashley Jensen took his own life in his Somerset home, an inquest has heard.
The emergency services were called to actor Terence Beesley’s home in Camerton, near Bath, on the afternoon of November 30 last year, where they found the 60-year-old in a car in his garage.
Paramedics tried to revive Mr Beesley, who played Buxton in ITV’s Victoria, but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.03pm that day, Avon Coroner’s Court heard.
In a statement read to the hearing Ms Jensen, who identified herself to responding officers as Ashley Beesley, said she came home, found her husband and called the authorities.
She had last spoken to him via text message and email on the afternoon of his death.
She said: “I was extremely shocked by what happened that night and I will never forget it.
“Terry and I had been together for 18 years but I had not idea he was capable of what he did.”
Coroner Peter Harrowing concluded that Mr Beesley’s death had been as a result of suicide.
“There is no evidence that I have heard to indicate why Mr Beesley took the act that he did but in any event it is not my function to answer the question why Mr Beesley might have taken that act,” said Mr Harrowing.
“Mr Beesley knew that his wife and young child were not at the house and he would not be disturbed… I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Beesley made a deliberate act.”
Avon Coroner’s Court heard Mr Beesley’s medical cause of death was carbon monoxide toxicity.
Dr Sam Robinson, Mr Beesley’s GP, said in a statement the actor had “no past medical history of any mental health issues”.
In her statement Ms Jensen, who played Christina in the US show Ugly Betty, added she first met her future husband in 1999 while working on a production of King Lear.
They married in 2007 and had a child together two years later, living in London and LA before moving to Somerset.
She said her husband was outgoing and had many friends and colleagues.
Mr Beesley, who was born in London, played General Bennigsen in BBC One’s War And Peace and appeared in numerous other TV shows including the Bill, Casualty and as Derek Branning in EastEnders.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here