Actress Natasha Richardson dies after accident while skiing
Published 9:47 pm Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Natasha Richardson, a glamorous and talented member of a British acting dynasty and wife of actor Liam Neeson, died from head injuries March 18 suffered while she was skiing. She was 45.
The unexpected tragedy made international headlines and prompted expressions of shock and grief. She fell on a beginners slope near Montreal during a ski lesson March 16 and initially appeared coherent, but an hour later she complained of a headache. As her condition worsened dramatically, she was flown to a hospital near her home in New York City, where her family gathered.
She was the daughter of Academy Award-winning actress and human rights activist Vanessa Redgrave and the Oscar-winning director and producer Tony Richardson. Her maternal grandparents were the actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Her aunt is actress Lynn Redgrave, with whom Natasha Richardson and her mother appeared in the 2005 Merchant-Ivory production “The White Countess.”
Natasha Richardson may have been overshadowed by the public profile of her family, particularly her mother, but she was widely respected for the high quality and versatility of her performances.
She won a Tony Award for a 1998 revival of the musical “Cabaret,” in which she played the bohemian showgirl Sally Bowles, and starred in a variety of film, television and stage productions, ranging from Blanche Du Bois in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” (2005) on Broadway to a Disney remake of “The Parent Trap” (1998) in Hollywood.
As a young woman, Richardson was considered one of the most promising actresses of her generation and earned a reputation as a specialist in formidable dramatic parts. She received a Tony nomination and outstanding notices for her lead role as a woman with a dark past in a 1993 revival of the Eugene O’Neill waterfront story “Anna Christie.”
She was a statuesque blonde with a smoky voice, and director Paul Schrader, who cast her in several movies, once noted how she “had an essential quality of mystery about her. You can watch her for the better part of two hours, and still think that she’ll show you something new.”
In addition to Schrader’s “Patty Hearst” (1988), in which she played the title heiress-turned-terrorist, and the psychological thriller “The Comfort of Strangers” (1990), Richardson starred in movie dramas including “A Month in the Country” (1987) with Colin Firth, “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1990) with Robert Duvall and “Widows’ Peak” (1994) with Neeson.
She also made some attempts to raise her income and public recognition, appearing in “The Parent Trap,” with Lindsay Lohan, and “Maid in Manhattan” (2002) as a frosty socialite opposite a hotel maid played by Jennifer Lopez.
