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Kate Beckinsale shares touching poem by late dad Richard after Kobe Bryant’s death

Kate Beckinsale has shared a poem written by her father Richard. (Photo by Jean-Baptiste LACROIX / AFP via Getty Images)
Kate Beckinsale has shared a poem written by her father Richard. (Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/AFP via Getty Images)

Kate Beckinsale has shared a touching poem written by her late father Richard Beckinsale in the wake of basketball player Kobe Bryant's death aged 41.

The poem, which touches upon the sadness of premature deaths, was written by the Porridge actor, who died of a sudden heart attack aged 31 when Kate was just five years old.

"It hurts your heart and softens your soul when you see a man die, long before, even before, only before he's old," were the words posted to her Instagram in a photograph.

Read more: LeBron James posts emotional tribute to Kobe Bryant

Kate, who paid tribute to her father last year on the 40th anniversary of his passing, wrote alongside the picture of the poem: "And not just a man either. My dad wrote this not long before he died very young."

"Love to everyone hurting today x," the 46-year-old added along with purple and yellow hearts in reference to the colours of Bryant's team, the LA Lakers.

English actor Richard Beckinsale died in 1979. (Photo by George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
English actor Richard Beckinsale died in 1979. (George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A book of Richard's poetry entitled With Love was released posthumously in 1980.

Kate, who is based in Los Angeles, is among the many famous faces who have paid tribute to Bryant after he and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on Sunday 26 January.

A further seven people died in the crash, which occurred in Calabasas, California.

Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant died in a helicopter crash. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant died in a helicopter crash. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)

The other victims include the pilot, Ara Zobayan, as well as local baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa.

Gianna's basketball coach Christina Mauser also lost her life, as did team mate Peyton Chester and her mother Sarah.