August 16, 2011 | 10:46 am

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Husband Russell Armstrong Found Dead

Posted by Ilana Angel

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Russell Armstrong

Russell Armstrong, the husband of Taylor Armstrong, one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, was found dead today of an apparent suicide.  He was found hanging in his bedroom.  He leaves behind his wife, who filed for divorce last month, his 5 year old daughter Kennedy, and two sons, ages 11 and 13, from a previous marriage.

Russell’s lawyer, Ronald Richards, told TMZ that Russell had been staying at a friend’s home, which is where he took his own life.  He went on to say Russell was upset about the divorce and his financial situation, which is not good.  He filed Chapter 7 in 2005 and never recovered financially.

He was only 47 years old and the pain he must have been feeling to end his life this way, when he has young children, must have simply been unbearable.  Taylor said abuse as the reason for the divorce and that, along with all the other issues he was facing, clearly became too much for him.

It’s very sad and I am heartbroken for these children who have lost their father.  We will never know what went on in their marriage, and good or bad, taking your own life and leaving your children, shows great pain.  You cannot look at this family and not put some blame on the show.

To publically air your dirty laundry in this way is unnatural.  This man clearly had issues in his life before the Beverly Hills Housewives went on television, but in the past year we have watch his marriage fall apart, and his wife talk publically about him and how he abuses her.  How do you recover from that?

My heartfelt condolences go out Russell’s children on their tremendous loss.  How does a mother explain this to her child? How sad that the legacy he leaves his little girl is his marriage ending on film for her to see when she grows up.  May God bless the kids, and may Russell rest in peace.  This show has a hand in this tragedy so let’s hope they keep it real.