Culture

Natasha Richardson Obituary: a life of acting achievements

by Amy Judd | March 18, 2009 at 04:13 pm

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Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson, and daughter to Vanessa Redgrave and Tony Richardson, has died in New York today at the age of 45.

She was taken off life support after falling on a Mont-Tremblant Quebec ski slope and suffering from a brain injury. She was air-lifted to New York where she was placed in intensive care at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, but was reported brain dead and removed from life support at 1:30pm CST.

She appears to have suffered from what is known as 'talk and die' syndrome; which is delayed bleeding from an artery in your brain. It is not that common, but in severe cases it can kill you.

Richardson was born 11 May 1963 in London, England to famous director Tony Richardson and famous actress Vanessa Redgrave. She also has a famous sister, Joely Richardson. She is now married to Irish actor Liam Neeson, and they have two young sons. Neeson was filming in Toronto when he heard the news of his wife's accident and flew straight away to be by her side.

After making her film debut at the age of four she later trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. She started her career on the stage in Leeds, England and debuted on the screen in 1984 in 'Every Picture Tells a Story'.
Over her extensive career she has appeared in films such as 'Nell', 'The Handmaid's Tale', 'The Parent Trap' and 'Maid in Manhattan'.

She also won a Tony Award for her role as Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret.

Her first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox, from 1990 to 1992.[3] She has been married to Irish actor Liam Neeson since late 1994. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Micheál and Daniel. Richardson has helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS since her father, director Tony Richardson, died of AIDS-related causes in 1991.[4] Richardson has been actively involved in amfAR, becoming a board of trustees member in 2007, and has 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 is an ambassador. Richardson received amfAR's Award of Courage in November 2000.[5]