Natasha Richardson

Natasha Richardson was an English stage and screen actress. A member of the Redgrave family, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director / producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Early in her career, she played Mary Shelley and Patty Hearst in Gothic Ken Russell in the eponymous 1988 film directed by Paul Schrader, and later received critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in the revival of 1993 Anna Christie.

Natasha Richardson won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret. Some of his notable films included Patty Hearst (1988), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), Nell (1994), The Parent Trap (1998) and Maid in Manhattan (2002).

Natasha Richardson first marriage to filmmaker Robert Fox ended in divorce in 1992. In 1994, he was married to actor Liam Neeson, whom he had met when they both appeared in Anna Christie. The couple had two sons, Michael and Daniel. Richardson's father died of AIDS-related causes in 1991. She helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS through the charity amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Richardson died on March 18, 2009 of an epidural hematoma after a skiing accident in Quebec, Canada

Natasha Richardson Early Life

Natasha Richardson was born and raised in London, a member of the Redgrave family, known as a dynasty of actors in theater and film. She was the daughter of director and producer Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave, granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, sister of Joely Richardson, half-sister of Carlo Gabriel Nero and Katharine Grimond Hess, niece of actress Lynn Redgrave and actor Corin Redgrave and cousin Jemma Redgrave.
Richardson's parents divorced in 1967. The following year, she made her film debut at age four in one uncredited role in the Charge of the Light Brigade, directed by her father. Richardson was educated in London at two independent schools, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, London School for Girls and St Paul 'in Hammersmith, London, before training at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Natasha Richardson Career

Natasha Richardson began her career in regional theater at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, and in 1984, at the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park, London, when he appeared in the dream of a summer night, with Ralph Fiennes and Richard E . Grant. His first professional work in London's West End was in a revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in 1985. Soon after, she starred in a stage production of London High Society, a film adaptation of Cole Porter. In 1993 he made his Broadway debut in the lead role of Anna Christie, which is where he met future husband, Liam Neeson. In 1998, she played the role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes' revival of Cabaret on Broadway, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The next year he returned to Broadway in Closer, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in 2005, she appeared again with the roundabout, this time as Blanche DuBois in his revival of Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite John C. Reilly as Stanley Kowalski.
 In January 2009, two months before his death, Richardson played the role of Desirée in a concert production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, opposite her mother, Vanessa Redgrave who played Mme. Armfeldt. Both were appointed to head a new Broadway production of the brand (which became the current Broadway revival directed by Trevor Nunn), which never came to fruition. 

Natasha Richardson Movie

Natasha Richardson portrayed Mary Shelley in the 1986 film Gothic, a fictional account of the creation of the author of Frankenstein. The following year she starred opposite Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in A Month in the Country, directed by Pat O'Connor. Director Paul Schrader signed her for the title role in Patty Hearst, his 1988 docudrama about the heiress and her alleged abduction. Her performances opposite Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway in The Handmaid's Tale and Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Helen Mirren in the Comfort of Strangers earned her the Best Actress Award 1990 Evening Standard British Film. In 1991, she appeared in The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish alongside Bob Hoskins. Later is credited with giving the best kiss of your life for the film. "She came over me and kissed me like I've never been kissed before. I was stunned." She was named Best Actress at the 1994 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival widows peak, and that same year appeared in Nell opposite Jodie Foster and future husband Liam Neeson. Additional film credits include The Parent Trap (1998), Dry (2001), Chelsea Walls, Waking Up in Reno (2002), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Asylum (2005), which won second prize at Evening Standard Best Actress, The White Countess (2005) and Night (2007). His last screen appearance was as the director of a school for girls in the comedy Wild Child 2008. During the last week of January 2009, he recorded his role off screen wife of George Mallory climber who disappeared while climbing Mount Everest during a 1924 expedition, in the documentary film, 2010 The Wildest Dream, for which Liam Neeson provides narration. Director Anthony Geffen described listening to the movie since his death as "terrible".


Natasha Richardson made his American television debut in a small role in the 1984 CBS miniseries Ellis Island. That same year he made his debut on British television in an episode of the BBC series Oxbridge Blues. The following year she appeared as Violet Hunter alongside Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in the episode entitled "The Copper Beeches". She starred with Judi Dench, Michael Gambon and Kenneth Branagh in a BBC adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1987 play Ghosts, with Maggie Smith and Rob Lowe in the BBC adaptation of 1993 Suddenly, Last Summer by Tennessee Williams, portrayed Zelda Fitzgerald 1993 television movie Zelda, and starring Haven (2001) by CBS and The Mastersons of Manhattan (2007) on the NBC network.

 Natasha Richardson Personal life

Natasha Richardson's first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox whom he had met in 1985, during the filming of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, who were married from 1990 to 1992. He married Irish actor Liam Neeson in the summer of 1994 at the home they shared near Millbrook, New York, who had taken American citizenship. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Michael (born 1995) and Daniel (born in 1996). Richardson helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS, her father, director Tony Richardson, died of AIDS-related causes in 1991.

Natasha Richardson was actively involved in amfAR, becoming a member of the board of trustees in 2006, 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 he was ambassador. Richardson received the amfAR Award of Courage in November 2000. A longtime smoker, although they had stopped smoking reportedly Richardson was an outspoken opponent of the ban on smoking in restaurants in New York.

Natasha Richardson Injury and Death

On 16 March 2009, Natasha Richardson sustained a head injury when she fell while taking a beginner ski lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec, Canada, about 80 miles (130 km) from the Montreal airport. The injury was followed by a lucid interval, when Richardson seemed fine and was able to speak and act normally. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. Refusing medical attention twice, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to Hospital du Sacré-Cœur, Montreal, in critical condition and was admitted about seven hours after the fall. The next day he was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, where he died March 18 at age 45. An autopsy conducted by the Office of Medical Examiners of New York on 19 March revealed the cause of death was "epidural hematoma due to mitigating the impact to the head" and his death was an accident.

On March 19, the theater lights went out on Broadway in New York and in the West End of London as a sign of respect for Richardson. The next day, a private call is held at the American Irish Historical Society in Manhattan. On March 22, a private funeral was held at the Episcopal Church of San Pedro, near Millbrook, New York, near the north of the family home, and Richardson was buried near her grandmother Rachel Kempson in the cemetery. Richardson's aunt Lynn Redgrave was also buried in the same cemetery on May 8, 2010, near Richardson and Kempson. Richardson's family released a statement the day of his death, "Liam Neeson, his sons and the entire family is shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha.'re Deeply grateful for the support, love and prayers of all, and asks for privacy during this very difficult time. "

Natasha Richardson was not wearing a helmet when he suffered his injury. This sparked a debate on whether helmet use while skiing should be mandatory. After the incident, the spokesman for the ski resort of Mont Tremblant, Ian Galbraith, said "we recommend all skiers and snowboarders wear helmets, it is a matter of personal preference if our guests choose to do so." A mandatory helmet law was never implemented in Quebec, although the Association of Ski Quebec budgeted $ 200,000 for a safety campaign. According to a BBC report, the number of skiers and snowboarders wore helmets increased substantially after the death of Natasha Richardson and several other high-profile incidents.