Vanessa Richardson dies aged 45
British actress Natasha Richardson has died following a skiing accident in Canada.
Richardson, 45, fell during a supervised skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec on Monday. “It was a normal fall; she didn’t hit anyone or anything” said Lyne Lortie, a spokeswoman for the resort.
Richardson felt fine immediately after the accident but complained of a headache an hour later, and was taken to hospital as her condition worsened. She was then transferred to Lenox Hill Hospital near her family home in New York. Her husband, the actor Liam Neeson, accompanied her during the flight, and she was joined st the hospital by her two sons, Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12, and her mother, Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave. He sister, Nip/Tuck actress Joely Richardson was also photographed going into the hospital.
Richardson’s death was announced shortly before midnight GMT.
Alan Nierob, Neeson’s publicist, 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.”
Richardson was an intense and absorbing actress who played a variety of challenging stage roles, as well as starring in films and TV. She came to critical prominence in 1985 as Nina, Chekhov’s naïve and vulnerable ingénue in The Seagull, a role her mother had played to great acclaim in 1964.
She later moved to America, where she said “no-one cares about the Redgrave baggage,” and appeared on Broadway in the stage production of Closer, Patrick Marber’s play about infidelity and the Internet, and as Blanche DuBois in a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Redgrave also starred in Hollywood remake The Parent Trap (1998), the comedy Maid in Manhattan (2002) and the teen melodrama Wild Child (2008).
