Who is Beau Jessup? Lisa Maxwell’s daughter dies aged 27 while studying at Columbia University

Beau Jessup, the daughter of British actress Lisa Maxwell, has died unexpectedly at the age of 27 while studying for a master’s degree at Columbia University in New York.

The university announced her death on Instagram on Wednesday, November 11, expressing its condolences to her family, friends and classmates.

“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved her,” a separate statement read. No cause of death was disclosed.

Columbia also released an unpublished interview with Jessup, conducted last month for its “Notebook” series. She was studying for an MS in Journalism and was expected to graduate in May 2027.

According to the university, Jessup was interested in “cultural journalism, particularly how institutions, identity, and social expectations influence the way we live and understand one another.”

In the interview, she reflected on growing up as the daughter of a television actress, 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.”

She added: “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.”

Jessup developed an interest in reporting while studying social anthropology at the London School of Economics and writing for performance at the University of Cambridge.

She also wrote her first play, The Sandbag, during her time at Cambridge.

In 2016, she attracted attention after launching SpecialName, a website helping Chinese parents choose English names for their children.

Maxwell and her husband, Paul Jessup, have not publicly commented on their daughter’s death.