Francine Beppu cause of death has been confirmed as suicide, according to a Honolulu Medical Examiner’s report obtained by Media.
The report says Beppu, who appeared on Showtime’s reality series The Real L Word, died from hanging. Her body was found at her home in Honolulu on February 17. She was 43.
What the medical examiner reported
The Honolulu Medical Examiner ruled Beppu’s manner of death a suicide. Toxicology testing also found amphetamine and alcohol in her system at the time of her death, according to the report.
The findings add formal detail to a loss that had already shaken people who knew Beppu through the series and through her place in LGBTQ+ visibility on television. Reality TV can turn personal lives into public record with alarming efficiency, but grief remains less tidy than a report.
How Francine Beppu became known to viewers
Beppu was best known for appearing on The Real L Word, Showtime’s reality series following the lives and relationships of LGBTQ+ women in Los Angeles. The show made several of its cast members recognizable to viewers looking for queer lives shown on television with more intimacy than the industry often allowed at the time.
