Actress Kate Beckinsale, 51, Says Her Mother Died in Her Arms After Cancer Battle

Veteran actress Kate Beckinsale, 51, has publicly shared the heartbreaking experience of losing her mother, Judy Loe, to cancer.

In an emotional social media update on July 19, Beckinsale began by saying, “I don’t want to post this.” She then revealed: “I have had to register my mother’s death certificate and it will soon become public record.”

Actor Richard Beckinsale with family Judy Loe and daughter Kate Beckinsale at home March 1977.

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“She died the night of July 15th in my arms after immeasurable suffering,” Beckinsale shared on Instagram along with several pictures of her mother from over the years. She added, “I have not picked all the best photos, nor the best videos, because I cannot bear to go through my camera roll yet.”

The Underworld star apologized to her mother’s friends who were “finding out through the press” of her mother’s death, admitting that she was finding it hard to check messages and go through the contacts on her mother’s phone: “I am paralysed,” Beckinsale wrote.

“Judy was the compass of my life, the love of my life, my dearest friend,” she continued. “The vastness and huge heart of this tiny woman has touched so many people who love her dearly. She has been brave in so many ways, forgiving sometimes too much, believing in the ultimate good in people, and the world is so dim without her that it is nearly impossible to bear.

“Mama, I love you so much. This has been my greatest fear since finding my father dead at five, and I am here.”

Beckinsale’s father, British actor Richard Beckinsale, died suddenly in 1979 at the age of 31.

The type of cancer Loe was diagnosed with has not been publicly revealed.

Judith Margaret Loe was born in Urmston, Manchester, England, in 1947. She was a television actress who appeared on the British sci-fi children’s program Ace of Wands from 1970 to 1971. According to IMDb, Loe also appeared in shows like Couples from 1975 to 1976, Revelations from 1994 to 1995 and Space Island One in 1998, as well as the 1983 film Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Loe remarried in 1997, wedding British television director Roy Battersby, who died in 2024 after suffering a stroke.

Beckinsale frequently posted pictures and videos of caring for her mother during the latter’s battle with cancer. According to the Daily Mail, Beckinsale frequently traveled from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom to be by her mother’s side.

Other celebrities have recently shared their caregiving experiences. ​​

Kate Beckinsale with her mother in 2008.

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Former first lady Michelle Obama, 61, was a caregiver for her late mother, Marian Robinson, who died in May 2024.

“Her last bout of illness, she was with me in Hawaii, in our home in Hawaii, which was a blessing, right? Because she was forced to let me take care of her,” Obama said on NPR’s Wild Card with Rachel Martin podcast. ​​The New York Times best-selling author said her mother “didn’t want to be a burden” to her, even as she was receiving medical care.

Actors Patrick Dempsey, 59, and Bradley Cooper, 50, were also caregivers for their late parents.

For more information on caregiving, including balancing caregiving while working, developing a family caregiving backup plan and managing in-home care, visit aarp.org.