TV star Julie Graham left devastated after her Howards End actor husband, 44, was found hanged from a tree in London park 

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Tragedy: Joseph Bennett, the husband of actress Julie Graham (pictured together), died after apparently hanging himself in a park

The husband of actress Julie Graham has been found hanging in a park in an apparent suicide.

The body of actor Joseph Bennett, 44, who appeared in the film Howards End and TV show The Bill, was discovered in Richmond Park, south-west London, it was reported.

The tragedy last month devastated his 49-year-old wife, who has starred in The Bletchley Circle, At Home With The Braithwaites and Doc Martin.

Mr Bennett, who also appeared in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, was found on April 13, 70 miles from the Brighton home he shared with his wife and their two children.

Scotland Yard said: 'A man in his mid-40s was pronounced dead at the scene. A report has been submitted to the coroner's office.'

It is understood his family have already held his funeral. An inquest is yet to be held.

The couple, who had two children, met in 2001 while starring together as brother and sister in a stage play. They married the following year in a secret ceremony in front of just two witnesses.

In an interview at the time Miss Graham gushed: '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.'

Actor Joseph Bennett appeared in the film Howards End in 1992 (pictured), as well as TV shows The Bill and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

He played Paul Wilcox in Howards End, a British romantic drama based on the novel of the same name by E. M. Forster. Helena Bonham Carter, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Emma Thompson also starred

Last month, it was announced that Julie Graham had been cast in Benidorm, as the matriarch of a new family 

Last month it was announced that Miss Graham had been cast in ITV show Benidorm, as the matriach of a new family. She has since been pictured putting on a brave face while taking part in filming for the new series, weeks after her husband's death.

The Scottish actress was raised along by her mother Betty in Irvine, Ayrshire. When she was in her late teens her mother died of lung cancer, aged 50, six months after being diagnosed.

She has said previously: 'I was 18 and I felt utterly destroyed. I didn't have the emotional mechanism to deal with a loss of this magnitude.'

The tragedy spurred her to move to London and become an actress. When she first arrived she got a job working on the doors at a Soho strip club, before landing a role on Casualty, where she played a student nurse.

She has 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.

On set: Julie Graham was pictured filming the eighth series of Benidorm at the end of last month

The 49-year-old put on a brave face following the death of her husband Joseph Bennett weeks earlier

Ms Graham is shown comforting her on-screen daughter Jodie in one of the scenes being filmed

The gripping scene also saw her being held back. It has been announced that Ms Graham has been cast as the matriarch of a new family on Benidorm

Famous roles: The Scottish actress appeared in ITV's The Bill (left) and At Home with the Braithwaites (right)

Miss Graham briefly went out with Liam Neeson before he met and married Natasha Richardson.

It was while working on a touring production of a play called Fool For Love in 2001 that Miss Graham met her future husband. The pair were married in Brighton a year later and honeymooned in Venice.

They have two daughters, Edie May, 11, and nine-year-old Betty. 

Ms Graham later admitted that there had been a 'short overlap' before the end of her five-year relationship with actor Joe McGann.

In an interview shortly after her wedding, she said: 'I felt disloyal but Joe (McGann) was good about it. I knew very quickly that Joe (Bennett) was the one.

'My husband was in an edition 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.'

Mr Bennett had two children from a previous long-term relationship when the pair met, which the At Home with the Braithwaites star previously said changed her mind about having a family. 

Codebreaker: The 49-year-old also played Jean in The Bletchley Circle, a television drama set in the early fifties about four women who used to work as codebreakers at Bletchley Park

She starred with Martin Clunes in the romantic comedy William and Mary between 2003 and 2005

Ms Graham went on to appear in The Bletchley Circle, a television drama set in the early fifties about four women who used to work as codebreakers at Bletchley Park.

Most recently she has starred in BBC One’s New Tricks and is due to be seen in the forthcoming eighth series of Benidorm. New episodes for the show are being filmed ready to air in 2016.

When asked about the tragedy, an ITV spokesman said: 'We have no official comment to make.'

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