Natasha Richardson

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Natasha Richardson was born on May 11th, 1963 in London, England. To say acting was in her genes would be an understatement. Her father was director Tony Richardson, her mother Vanessa Redgrave, her aunt Lynn Redgrave, her uncle Corin Redgrave and her grandparents Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson.

She made her debut at the age of four, playing a bridesmaid in her father’s 1968 film The Charge of the Light Brigade, which starred her mother. After her parents divorced, Natasha trained at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. She worked in theatre and in 1985 her touring production of The Seagull transferred to London —- and added her mother to the cast.

Natasha had spent some time doing TV roles in Every Picture Tells a Story, Ellis Island and Oxford Blues, but in 1986 she found herself working with director Ken Russell on the film Gothic with Gabriel Byrne and Julian Sands. In 1987, she worked with Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh on A Month in the Country.

In 1998, she played Patty Hearst in the Paul Schrader-directed biopic and in 1989, appeared in Fat Man and Little Boy with Paul Newman and John Cusack. The following year, she appeared in Volker Schlöndorff’s A Handmaid’s Tale with Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway and The Comfort of Strangers with Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Helen Mirren. In 1991, Natasha starred in the comedy The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish with Bob Hoskins and Jeff Goldblum and Past Midnight with Rutger Hauer.

1993 saw Richardson spend some time on the small screen, with roles in Suddenly, Last Summer, Hostages and Zelda. After earning a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Anna Christie, she worked with Joan Plowright and Mia Farrow in 1994’s Widow’s Peak. That same year, she married her Anna Christie co-star Liam Neeson. The pair then worked together in the movie Nell with Jodie Foster.

1998 was a big year for Richardson. Not so much for her role in The Parent Trap remake with Dennis Quaid and future tabloid headline Lindsay Lohan, but for her Tony-winning role as Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret.

In 2001, she was part of the ensemble cast of Blow Dry and also appeared in Chelsea Walls. The following year, she worked with Billy Bob Thornton, Charlize Theron and Patrick Swayze in Waking Up in Reno and with Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes in Maid in Manhattan. That was followed by 2007’s Asylum and The White Countess, which starred Ralph Fiennes and her mother and aunt, Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave.

She worked with her mother again in 2007’s Evening, which also starred Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Claire Danes, Toni Collette and Hugh Dancy. The following year, she starred with Emma Roberts in Wild Child.

In March of 2009, Natasha Richardson suffered head injuries during a skiing trip in Quebec’s Mont Tremblant resort area. She passed away on March 18th, 2009.

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