Natasha Richardson

Natasha Richardson
Richardson at the UK premiere of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Born	Natasha Jane Richardson
Years active	1984 - 2009
Spouse(s)	Robert Fox (1990–1992) Liam Neeson (1994–2009)

Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was a British actress known for her performances on stage and screen. She was a member of the Redgrave family and the daughter of the actress Vanessa Redgrave and the director/producer Tony Richardson. Richardson rose to international stardom with her Tony award-winning performance as Sally Bowles in the musical play Cabaret in New York City on Broadway in 1998.

Richardson was brought up in London; she attended St. Paul's Girls' School before training at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. Richardson was married twice. Her first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox, whom she divorced in 1992. She married Irish actor Liam Neeson in late 1994. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Micheál and Daniel. Her father died of AIDS-related causes in 1991. Richardson helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS through the charity amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Richardson died on 18 March 2009 from injuries sustained in a skiing accident.

Early life

Richardson was born in London, England, as a member of the Redgrave family, known as a dynasty in theatre and acting. She was daughter of the late director and producer Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave, and granddaughter of the late actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Her sister is Joely Richardson. She is also the niece of actress Lynn Redgrave and actor Corin Redgrave, and cousin of Jemma Redgrave. Richardson made her film debut at the age of four in a film directed by her father, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968). She attended St. Paul's Girls' School for several years, and then trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

Theatre

Richardson began her career in regional theatre, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England. Her screen debut in Every Picture Tells a Story in 1984, was followed by a CBS miniseries, Ellis Island. A year later, Richardson appeared in a revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull; her first professional work in London's West End. That same year she made her UK television debut alongside Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes appearing as Violet Hunter in the episode "The Copper Beeches". Soon after, she starred in a London stage production of High Society, adapted from the acclaimed Cole Porter film, and successively portrayed Mary Shelley in the 1987 Ken Russell film, Gothic. In 1998 she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Bowles in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of the Sam Mendes–Rob Marshall helmed revival of Kander & Ebb's Cabaret. In 2005, she appeared again with the Roundabout, this time as Blanche DuBois in their revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite John C. Reilly's Stanley Kowalski.

Film

The same year she starred opposite Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in A Month in the Country, directed by Pat O'Connor. A major moment in advancement was her starring role in The Handmaid's Tale (1990), playing opposite Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway. She starred in Nell (1994) alongside her future husband, Liam Neeson, and Jodie Foster.

Personal life

Her first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox, from 1990 to 1992. She married Irish actor Liam Neeson in late 1994. Richardson and Neeson had two sons: Micheál and Daniel. Richardson helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS since her father, director Tony Richardson, died of AIDS-related causes in 1991. Richardson was actively involved in amfAR, becoming a board of trustees member in 2007, and participated in many other AIDS charities including Bailey House, God's Love We Deliver, Mothers' Voices, AIDS Crisis Trust and National AIDS Trust, for which she was an ambassador. Richardson received amfAR's Award of Courage in November 2000.

Death

On 16 March 2009, Richardson was injured in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort in the Canadian province of Quebec. She was taken to Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal after suffering a traumatic brain injury. She was listed as being in critical condition, and her husband, Liam Neeson, was reported to have joined her after flying from Toronto, where he was filming a movie. Richardson was flown on March 17 by private jet to Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan and visited by her sons, mother Vanessa Redgrave, and sister Joely Richardson. She died on 18 March 2009 at age 45.

At approximately 7:00 pm, New York time, Liam Neeson's publicist issued this statement to the press:

Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.

Work

Filmography

• Gothic (1986) – Mary Shelley
• A Month in the Country (1987) – Alice Keach
• Patty Hearst (1988) – Patricia Hearst
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) – Jean Tatlock
• The Handmaid's Tale (1990) – Kate/Offred
• The Comfort of Strangers (1990) – Mary
• The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991) – Sybil
• Past Midnight (1992) – Laura Mathews
• Nell (1994) – Dr. Paula Olsen
• Widows' Peak (1994) – Mrs Edwina Broome
• The Parent Trap (1998) – Elizabeth James
• Haven (2001) – Ruth Gruber
• Blow Dry (2001) – Shelley Allen
• Waking Up In Reno (2002) – Darlene Dodd
• Maid in Manhattan (2002) – Caroline Lane
• The White Countess (2005) – Countess Sofia Belinskya
• Asylum (2005) – Stella Raphael
• Evening (2007) – Constance Lord
• Wild Child (2008) – Mrs. Kingsley

Stage

• On the Razzle (1983)
• Top Girls (1983)
• Charley's Aunt (1983)
• The Seagull (1985) – Nina
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1985) – Helena
• Hamlet (1985) – Ophelia
• High Society (1987) – Tracey
• Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) – Jean Tatlock
• Anna Christie (1993) – Anna
• Cabaret (1998) – Sally
• Closer (1999) – Anna
• The Lady from the Sea (2003)
• A Streetcar Named Desire (2005) – Blanche

Awards

• Most Promising Newcomer Plays and Players, 1986
• Best Actress: Plays and Players, 1990
• Evening Standard Film Award, 1990
• Prague Film Festival, 1994
• Tony Award, actress in a musical, Cabaret, 1999
• Evening Standard Film Award, 2006

Notes

• Natasha Richardson 1963-2009

External links

• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Interpreting Tennessee Williams – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 2005
• Performance – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 1998
• Production: Anna Christie – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, January 1993
• Natasha Richardson at Find a Grave

Template:Persondata {{subst:#if:Richardson, Natasha|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1963}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2009}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1963 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2009}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}