Farewell to "wonderful" Tom Beard

Unusually for such an accomplished actor and entertainer, Tom Beard, who has died aged just 50, did not hog the limelight. He brought a gentleness, humanity and humour to everything he did and it must surprise no one that heartbroken luvvies were lining up to honour him after news of his death emerged.

In Kavanagh's Imbibing Emporium, Thomastown, 1988

His agent Rebecca Blond led the field, saying: “He was a truly glorious man and a wonderful actor and we shall miss him beyond words.”

“Whilst he took his work incredibly seriously, he never took himself too seriously. There isn’t a company, a director or an actor I know that didn’t think he was the best thing.”

Michael Grandage, who directed him in King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse, tweeted: “Farewell to the great Tom Beard. A wonderful man and a wonderful actor. We will miss you.”

The actor Samuel West, who appeared alongside Tom in the BBC’s Hollow Crown series, said he was “one of the kindest of men, and the most truthful and generous of actors.”

The National Theatre, too, tweeted: “Very sad to hear of the death of Tom Beard – a wonderful actor, gone too soon; last here in Hotel. RIP Tom.”

And Hampstead Theatre tweeted: “”Very sad to hear Tom Beard has passed away. A hugely talented actor who will be sorely missed.”

Actor Tom Rhys Harries wrote: “Tom Beard my dear friend. What a gift I had in knowing you. A wonderful man with a beautiful family. I am at a loss.”

The actors’ union Equity tweeted: “We’re very sad to hear that actor Tom Beard has passed away. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”

And the New Wolsey Theatre tweeted: “Such sad news about the passing of Tom Beard. Remembering him well from Private Lives 2006.”

Tom appeared in the RSC productions of The Tempest, Pericles, Henry VI parts 1,2 & 3 and Richard III. His West end credits included The Holy Terror, Three Sisters, Hamlet, She Stoops to Conquer, Becket and Hotel at the National Theatre, as well as appearances in Drawing the Line, King Lear, Apologia, Tusk Tusk, For Services Rendered, Private Lives, Nelson, Macbeth and A Madhouse in Goa.

In addition to his stage work, Tom’s numerous film roles included Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Hereafter, Vanity Fair and Bridget Jones’ Diary.

TV credits included New Worlds, The Great Train Robbery, The Guilty, Whitechapel, Case Histories, Foyle’s War, Hunted, Pete Versus Life, Hustle, Silk, Kingdom, Wallander, Midsomer Murders, Inspector George Gently, The Fixer, Whistleblowers, Clapham Junction, Silent Witness, Party Animals, Spooks, Robin Hood, Disasters That Changed the World, Six Degrees of Francis Bacon, The Government Inspector, Rosemary & Thyme, Holby City, Murder City, EastEnders, In Defence, Doctors, Poirot, Wing and a Prayer, Aristocrats, Staying Alive, The Investigator, McCallum, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Soldier Soldier, Peak Practice, Harnessing Peacocks, Unnatural Pursuits, Boon, Jewels and Bad Girl.

The theatrical magazines say that his stage breakthrough came in 1994 when he played Laertes in Peter Hall’s West End production of Hamlet, although closer followers of his career will recall his impressive performance as a murderous baron in Becket at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in 1991.

At Mount Juliet, 1988

On the cricket field, too, he excelled with a decisive batting ability which frequently extricated us from disaster, making runs in tight spots when everyone else had failed. When he eventually gave up the All Stars’ Irish tour it was a tremendous loss to the team. He was also an extremely energetic and effective fielder and was happy to stand in as wicket keeper when required, although exhibited somewhat less of a sure touch in that role. Keeping against Mullingar he was assaulted by a leg side wide that hit him on the chin, requiring stitches at the local hospital. The bowler was Alex, and Tom thus learned a valuable but painful lesson about not being his brother’s keeper.
He also remained stoical, as far as possible, after another famous injury: batting at no. 5 against the Leprechauns at Trinity College Green in 1988, a Gloucester ringer bowled a fast off-cutter which Tom gamely stopped with his box. He was retired hurt and had to be carried off in the foetal position but returned to the wicket at no. 10 and was struck in the same place by the same bowler - same ball, so to speak. But, as Alex recalls, "it says it all that he stayed on and batted out the most most miraculous of draws in All Stars history."
That event was arguably overshadowed, in terms of his extraordinary stoicism, by the fixture in Birr, when Tom ate a dodgy burger and developed sensational and relentless food poisoning, involving soiled bedding and painful wounds. Despite this undoubted handicap, Tom went out to bat the next day and scored a remarkable 50. "A diamond," as Alex rightly says.

On a great many occasions, Tom treated us to his extensive repertoire of songs – most of them ideal for the bar in the hours after a match, but none of them repeatable in a family blog such as this one. And he particularly liked to rouse the team’s spirits the night before an important match with his brilliant rendition of Henry V’s Eve of Agincourt speech (courtesy of Shakespeare).

He will be badly missed by his old team mates; broken though our hearts may be, they go out to Alex, to Tom’s wife Polly, to his children Ella and Joe, his mother Trish and to all his loved ones.
Sir Derek Jacobi said: "Every dressing room needs a Tom Beard". And, as Polly movingly responded, "Every home needs a Tom Beard too".