Doc Martin actress lef t devastated as husband kills himself in the park
TELEVISION star Julie Graham has been l eft ‘devastated’ after the death of her actor husband, who apparently took his own life in a park.
The body of Joseph Bennett, who appeared in the movie Howards end and TV shows including The Bill and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, was found in London’s Richmond Park – 70 miles from the home he shared with Ayrshire-born Miss Graham in Brighton, Sussex.
news of the tragedy only emerged this weekend, although Mr Bennett, 44, died on April 13. Police confirmed his death was not being treated as suspicious. His family are understood to have already held his funeral.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: ‘A man in his mid-forties was pronounced dead at the scene. A report has been submitted to the coroner’s officer.’
An inquest is expected to be held later.
Miss Graham, 49, who starred in At Home With The Braithwaites and Doc Martin, was married to Bennett for 13 years and the couple have two children, edie May, 11, and nine-year-old Betty.
They met while starring in a play in which they played brother and sister and married a year later in 2002 in a secret ceremony in front of just two witnesses.
In an interview at the time, Miss Graham, who briefly dated Hollywood star Liam neeson, said: ‘ People had proposed to me before but I had always hesitated. But after eight months, he asked me to marry him and I said “yes” immediately. I’m absolutely nuts about him. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. This is the happiest I have ever been.’
Last month, it was announced that Miss Graham had been cast in ITV sitcom Benidorm, as the matriarch of a new family.
When Miss Graham was in her late teens her mother Betty, who raised her single-handedly at their home in Irvine, Ayrshire, died of lung cancer, aged 50, only six months after being diagnosed. With no brothers or sisters and a father who had left when she was a toddler, it was a tragedy that spurred Miss Graham to move to London and become an actress.
When she arrived she got a job working at a Soho strip club, before getting her big break in shows such as Casualty, where she played a student nurse, and Taggart.
Miss Graham has gone on to amass an extensive portfolio of TV credits, including Survivors, The Bill and Bonekickers.
She also appeared alongside Martin Clunes in William and Mary, a romantic comedy drama involving an undertaker and a midwife. It was nominated for a BAFTA in 2004.
It was while working on a touring production of a play called Fool For Love in 2001 that Miss Graham met her future husband.
Bennett made his name playing Paul Wilcox in Howards end, a British romantic drama based on the novel of the same name by eM Forster, which also starred Helena Bonham Carter, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave and emma Thompson.
The pair were married in Brighton a year l ater. Miss Graham later admitted that there had been a ‘short overlap’ before the end of her five-year relationship with f el l ow actor Joe McGann.
She said: ‘I felt disloyal but Joe (McGann) was good about it. I
‘Absolutely nuts
about him’
knew very quickly that Joe (Bennett) was the one.
‘My husband was in an episode of Casualty so I went down to Bristol to join him for the weekend. I walked into the hotel bar and there he was, having a drink with Joe McGann, who was just about to start filming a different episode of Casualty.
‘I almost turned on my heel and ran but it was fine. They got on really well.’
Bennett had two children from a previous long-term relationship when the pair met.
Most recently, Miss Graham has starred in BBC one’s new Tricks and will be seen in the forthcoming eighth series of Benidorm. new episodes will be filmed later this year and aired next year.
An ITV spokesman said: ‘ We have no official comment to make.’