Who Was Beau Rose Jessup? All About Lisa Maxwell’s Daughter Who Died – Hollywood Life

Long before she ever studied reporting, the girl who grew up beside a TV star was already fascinated by how real lives get turned into headlines. Beau Rose Jessup, whose mom is The Bill actress Lisa Maxwell, died in New York City while working toward a graduate degree, and her school has since shared her own words about the life she was building. From a teenage business that made her an international name to a play she was polishing for an audience, Beau packed a lot into her short life.

Keep reading to learn more about Beau, her famous parents and what’s known so far about her death.

Who Was Beau Rose Jessup?

Beau was pursuing her master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School, according to Columbia News, after studying social anthropology at the London School of Economics and writing for performance at the University of Cambridge. As a teenager, she created SpecialName, a website that helped Chinese parents choose English names for their babies, and at 16 she launched Beau’s Community Bakes, a weekly column for her local newspaper in England.

She told the outlet that those two projects put her on opposite sides of the press.

“With Community Bakes, I was the journalist, using a platform to represent other people’s experiences. With SpecialName, I became the story, watching my own intentions and experiences interpreted and repackaged by journalists around the world. Together, those experiences gave me an early appreciation of both the power and the responsibility of storytelling.”

How Did Beau Rose Jessup Die?

Columbia Journalism School announced Beau’s death in a statement on its website on November 9, 2026, E! News reported.

“Columbia Journalism School mourns the loss of Beau Jessup, a student in our M.S. program. We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved her. The J-School is working with Beau’s family to offer support and assistance during this difficult time.”

The school did not share a cause of death. She was 27. On November 13, 2026, New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner gave People a short update.

“We are investigating. The cause and manner of death are pending further study.”

Sources also told Page Six that her death was not considered suspicious and involved no criminality. Two days after the school’s announcement, Columbia News published an interview Beau had completed and reviewed shortly before she died, sharing it with her family’s permission.

Who Are Beau Rose Jessup’s Parents?

Lisa is an English actress best known for playing Detective Inspector Samantha Nixon on The Bill and for her run as a panelist on Loose Women. Beau was the only child of Lisa and her husband, Paul Jessup, E! News noted, and Lisa celebrated her daughter’s start at Columbia on X in September 2026.

“Congratulations guys! Especially my daughter @BeauJessup over in NYC making us all super proud. ❤”

What Did Beau Rose Jessup Say About Lisa Maxwell?

Columbia News approached Beau in October 2026 for its Notebook series on standout students. Asked about her path before Columbia, she pointed straight to her mom’s career.

“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.”

After graduation, Beau planned to work as a journalist and writer, covering people, culture and social questions. She also hoped to keep writing for the theater.