Natasha Richardson 1963 - 2009

Neeson's publicist, said: "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha.” The actress died following a fall on a beginner’s ski slope in a luxury ski resort in Quebec, Canada.

The daughter of British actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, Natasha Richardson was named after the heroine in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. She made her film bow at age four, playing one of her own mother's bridesmaids in Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), which was directed by her father. If ever there was someone born to act, this was her.

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Trained at the Central School for Speech and Drama, Richardson did her first professional stage work at the Leeds Playhouse in 1983 then went on to specialise in Shakespeare (like virtually everyone else of Redgrave lineage) at the Old Vic in London. Her training would be put to use in an illustrious career on stage and screen.

In the company of her mother Vanessa and her Aunt Lynn, she made an excellent impression in a 1985 staging of Chekhov's The Three Sisters; the following year, she won the London Theatre Critics Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

The honour was a trifle belated, as Richardson had been acting on stage for three years and co-starring in films since 1983's Every Picture Tells a Story. Her film roles ranged from passive to aggressive but were always distinctive. Among Richardson's most memorable film assignments were A Month in the Country (1987), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), Widows Peak (1994), and the successful 1998 remake of The Parent Trap.

She has done her most celebrated work on the stage, appearing in a 1993 production of Suddenly Last Summer and an acclaimed Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie that same year, during which she starred opposite her husband-to-be Liam Neeson. The couple – both established acting talents by now - were married in 1994 just months before their only feature film together – Nell, starring Jodie Foster.

Further stage credits included an incredibly popular 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret, in which she gave a Tony-winning portrayal of Sally Bowles. Her 1999 Broadway production of Patrick Marber's Closer, in which she starred alongside Rupert Graves, Anna Friel and Ciaran Hinds, sparked rave reviews.

Richardson's later screen appearances include Maid In Manhattan, opposite Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes and Evening with Claire Danes, Toni Collette and her mother Vanessa. Natasha then performed with Vanessa again in a New York production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.

No doubt further memorable performances would have followed had it not been for this tragic and unforeseeable accident.

 

Tributes pour in for Natasha Richardson

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