The Real L Word star Francine Beppu dies aged 43
The Real L Word star Francine Beppu has died aged 43. (Instagram/@naokoctopus)
Francine Beppu, star of Showtime reality series The Real L Word, has died aged 43, her family have confirmed.
In a statement shared on social media, Beppu’s loved ones honoured her “radiant light” and the “tremendous impact she had on everyone around her”.
Her family confirmed to TMZ that she died at her home in Honolulu, Hawaii, on 17 February. A cause of death has not been shared publicly.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the passing of our beloved Francine ‘Naoko’ Beppu,” her loved ones shared in their statement.
“The outpouring of care and concern from her friends and colleagues everywhere is a testament to the tremendous impact she had on everyone around her. We are deeply grateful to know how cherished she was and how brightly she will continue to shine through all who knew her.”
Beppu’s family asked for privacy as they navigate their “unimaginable loss” and “honour her memory”. They added that they would announce plans for a celebration of life when they are ready.
“Until then, thank you for holding our family in your thoughts and for carrying Francine’s radiant light forward,” the statement rounds off.
Francine Beppu appeared as a main cast member on Showtime reality series The Real L Word in 2011.
The series, which began in 2010, followed a group of queer women as they navigated life in Los Angeles. The third and final season premiered in 2012, and was set in Brooklyn.
Beppu appeared on season two alongside her ex-partner Claire Moseley, with the season focussing in part on the pair processing their break-up.
On Instagram, Moseley paid tribute to her former partner and her “contagious spirit”.
“Some people walk into your life and everything changes. In my nineteenth year, I met you – and not only did my life change, it began,” Moseley wrote.
“You were the most exciting and beautiful thing I’d ever seen. You had a contagious spirit that made me want to live in your orbit. You were smart. You were wild. You were free,” she continued.
“I am forever changed by your existence, and forever grateful to the universe for having our paths cross that fateful day in New York all those years ago.”
In 2017, Beppu joined the Board of Directors at the Hawaii LGBT Legacy Foundation. She was an active supporter of Honolulu Pride.
Last year, she founded BadLiars Collective, a women-led organisation focussed on “driving inclusivity” in golf “by uplifting historically underrepresented groups and celebrating diversity in all its forms”.
The Real L Word was commissioned following on from the success of Showtime’s fiction drama The L Word, which became a seminal piece of pop culture for lesbian representation when it premiered in 2004.
