Actress Natasha Richardson Dies

Natasha Richardson, 45, famous actress and part of a great acting dynasty, who worked in films, TV and theater and who in 1998 earned a Tony, performing as Sally Bowles in "Cabaret," died in New York on Wednesday, March18.

Natasha Richardson who was married to Liam Neeson; daughter of renowned actress Vanessa Redgrave, had an apparently harmless fall during a skiing lesson with her private ski instructor on Quebec's Mont Tremblant, Canada, on Monday There were no visible injuries, but while resting with her instructor, about one hour after the accident, a sudden headache caused her to be transported in ambulance to a local hospital in Ste. Agathe, Quebec. Later she was transferred to the Hospital du Sacre-Coeur of Montreal. At 12:30 today, she was taken out of the hospital and left the country.

She was transported on Tuesday to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where her husband Liam Neeson, her two boys and Lynn Redgrave, Joely Richardson and her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, gathered to accompany her.

The Los Angeles-based publicist for Neeson, Alan Nierob, established her death in a statement that did not disclose information about the cause of death. According to reports, Natasha Richardson was removed from life support on Wednesday.

A family spokesperson announced her death on Wednesday evening in New York. He said: "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."

Natasha Richardson was born on May 11, 1963, in London, to Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones"), Richardson was surrounded by acting celebrities right from the start.
Natasha Richardson studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. She acted in "Hamlet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire."

She also acted in diverse characters in television productions, such as "Suddenly, Last Summer," "Hostages" and "Zelda," in which she impersonated Zelda Fitzgerald.

Just out of drama school, Richardson confirmed her talent in 1985 in Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull", working for the first time with her mother. The London Drama Critics' Circle praised the young actress as a gifted neophyte.

Director Sam Mendes later cast her in his remake of "Cabaret" when it moved from London to New York's Roundabout Theatre in 1996. Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote about her: "What Ms. Richardson does is reclaim and reinvent a show-biz anthem that is as familiar as Hamlet's soliloquy." The stage adepts had the same opinion and awarded her a Tony, as well as a Drama Desk Award.

Her first major film appearance was as Mary Shelley in Ken Russell's 1986 film "Gothic," than she quickly engaged in the title role as the kidnapped American heiress in Paul Schrader's 1988 "Patty Hearst."

After Schrader Richardson together with Rupert Everett in "The Comfort of Strangers" in 1990, she acted as a sexually enslaved woman in "The Handmaid's Tale".

Then she joined her mother in the stage show "Evening," where the two acted as a mother-daughter pair. Richardson also worked on numerous projects with Neeson. They were married in 1994, before she had been married British producer Robert Fox.