In 1971, Cushing withdrew from the filming of Blood from the Mummy's Tomb following the death from emphysema[REF] of his wife, actress Violet Helene Beck (8 February 190514 January 1971), to whom he had been married since 1943.
In his autobiography, Cushing implies that he attempted suicide on the night of his wife's death by running up and down stairs in the vain hope that it would induce a heart attack.