Beth Killian is a minor character from Tim Burton's 1999 film Sleepy Hollow. She is the wife of Killian and mother of Thomas Killian who lives in Sleepy Hollow with her family.
She is portrayed by Claire Skinner.
Background[]
She was a midwife in the town of Sleepy Hollow and got on with many of the other women in town. Having been a midwife to the late Widow Winship, Beth Killian attracted the unfortunate attention of the witch Lady van Tassel after spilling the Widow Winship’s secret regarding her unborn child to her infront of her husband Killian. After hearing this, Lady van Tassel summons the horseman to kill her, her husband, and son.
Personality[]
She was a very passionate, romantic, loving young woman who liked flirting with her husband. She was also very affectionate and protective of her son, Thomas.
Physical Appearance[]
Very fair skin, pinkish lips, reddish hair, wears a home-made dress embroided with leaves. She has a wedding ring on one of her fingers. .
Role in the film[]
She is first seen when Killian offers Ichabod his services. Beth shown exiting the house and calling call in her son. Ichabod looks surprised when Killian says to his son "Get in for your breakfast, kiss your mother twice for you and three times for me." Masbath's father is found murdered by the Hessian, and Ichabod and Killian go off to investigate.
Beth is seen at the funeral of Masbath's father, holding her son close.
Beth's husband Killian accompanies Ichabod when Ichabod finds a gruesome discovery that Winship was with child before her death by the Hessian. Later, Ichabod rides past the Killian home, when he falls victim of a prank of Brom's, as Brom pretended to be the Hessian to scare Ichabod.
Beth is next encountered, when Ichabod has witnessed the Horseman return from his grave, summoned by the witch Lady van Tassel [unbeknown to Ichabod]. Ichabod chases the Hessian through the woods yet fails to find him. The Hessian is seen coming into Sleepy Hollow, where Brom and two men have set up a watch.
Inside the Killian home, Thomas, Beth's son is eager to show his mother his new lantern and he lights it. Beth approaches her husband as she she is cleaning the dinning room up and tells him not to pick his teeth, as she doesn't want her son having bad habits. Killian cheekily says he is a bad habit and that it can't be helped. Snarkily, Beth says "Oh isn't there?" and kisses her husband. She then leaves to get her son ready for bed. As she enters the bed rooms, she startled her son slightly who was watching the reflected images of the 3 candles lantern. The lantern has metal cut outs of images, that when lite show cats and witches through the cut out frame. Together, Beth and her son sit watch the eerie lantern figures for a moment before she kisses him, lovingly and protectively rubs his shoulder, and says "Come on, let's get ready for bed".
Thomas nervously says yes just as the Hessian breaks into the house.
Beth whips round, still clutching her son's shoulders in fear, but she moves to the doorway, watching Killian attempt to fight off the horsemen in fear. Her husband calls for her to run in which she returns the the room closing the door before manages to hide her son Thomas using a hidden door that leads below the house concealed by a rug as sounds of fighting can be heard from the other room. As it grows silent in the other room due to her husbands demise, the Horseman slams open the door just as Beth fixes the rug back in place. She backs into the wall as the horseman approaches her, her husbands decapitated head in his right hand. She closing her eyes as Hessian decapitates her and kills her. The horseman collects her head and turned to leave. Just before the horseman reaches the door though, he suddenly turns and using his axe, he begins to break the floor boards right where Thomas is hiding. Before Thomas can flee, the horseman grabs him and decapitates him as well off screen. As the horseman readies to leave, he carries a bag containing all three of the Killian family’s heads before engaging and killing Brom Van Brunt in a fight.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Unlike Ichabod's mother, who was pure and innocent and "a child of nature," Beth Killian was quite dismissive of such things. She seemed a bit too practical and nihilistic yet these beliefs backfired on her when the Hessian came.