‘Miss you every day!’ Kate Beckinsale shares Father’s Day tribute to her late actor dad Richard who died of a heart attack when she was just a child
Kate Beckinsale has paid tribute to her late actor dad, on Father’s Day.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the actress, 46, shared a black and white photograph of herself and her late father Richard Beckinsale, who died when she was just 5 years old.
The actor was a household name with starring roles in classic sitcoms Rising Damp and Porridge when he died of a heart attack at the family’s Berkshire home in 1979, aged just 31.
Tribute: Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Kate Beckinsale, 46, shared a black and white photograph of herself and her late father Richard Beckinsale, who died when she was just 5
Writing alongside the heartwarming snap, Kate wrote: ‘I had so much fun with you. I love you. Thank you for your dear and lovely heart which was so beautiful it broke.
‘Miss you every day and Lily does too. Happy Father’s Day.’
Kate also paid tribute to her stepfather Roy Battersby who married Kate’s mum Judie 18 years after her father’s death in 1997.
The shared a photograph of the television director wearing a funny T-shirt, and accompanied the Instagram post with a sweet caption.
Remembering her late father: Kate shared a tribute to her late actor dad, on Father’s Day
Tragic: The actor was a household name with roles in sitcoms Rising Damp and Porridge when he died of a heart attack in 1979, aged just 31 (pictured in 1974)
His T-shirt read: ‘World’s Best Farter – I mean Father,’ and Kate wrote: ‘My mother has a very competitive nature.
‘So sending my stepdad this t shirt really has put him in a very dangerous position as she’s been in a full crouch for the title since it arrived and they’ve got a gas stove with four hobs.
‘Happy Father’s Day Roy. Thank you for giving me the courage to be, literally and figuratively.’
Grateful: Kate also paid tribute to her stepfather Roy Battersby who married Kate’s mum Judie 18 years after her father’s death in 1997
Kate’s late father Richard made his acting debut in the much-loved British soap Coronation Street in 1969.
He went onto star in the Granada sitcom The Lovers and the much-loved BBC sitcom Porridge.
He died in his sleep from a heart attack, which was later revealed to be a congenital defect.
Of losing her father, the Hollywood actress said in 2013: ‘It was a terrible loss. It’s so weird as a five-year-old to look out in the street and see people reading the paper and crying while you’re crying and your mum is crying and your granny’s crying.
Tragic: Of losing her father, in2013 the Hollywood described it as: ‘the worst loss that I have experienced’ (Pictured in 1972)
‘Even though it was the worst loss that I have experienced I was able to share it with people who genuinely, even if they didn’t know him, really seemed to love him.
‘I feel not many people are in that position – to have lost somebody and also to feel like that’s something really relevant to other people.’
Kate was previously in a long-term romance with fellow actor Michael Sheen, who she began dating in 1995 before breaking up in 2003. They share a daughter Lily, 19.
Mother and daughter: Kate was previously in a long-term romance with fellow actor Michael Sheen and they share a daughter Lily, 19