Natasha Richardson

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Natasha Richardson

Born Natasha Jane Richardson
May 11, 1963 (1963-05-11) (age 45)
London, England
Spouse(s) Robert Fox (1990-1993)
Liam Neeson (1994-)

Natasha Jane Richardson (born May 11, 1963) is a Tony Award-winning English actress and member of the Redgrave family, an enduring English theatrical dynasty. She is well-known through several leading roles in films, however, she is most famous through her award-winning roles on Broadway.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Richardson was born in London into the Redgrave family, and named after the heroine in Leo Tolstoy's famous novel, War and Peace. She is the daughter of the late director and producer Tony Richardson and Academy Award-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, and a granddaughter of the late actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Her sister is Joely Richardson. She is also the niece of actress Lynn Redgrave and actor Corin Redgrave, and cousin of Jemma Redgrave. Richardson made her film debut at the age of four in a film directed by her father, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968). She attended St. Paul's Girls' School for several years, and then trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.

[edit] Career

Richardson began her career in regional theatre, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England. Her screen debut in Every Picture Tells a Story in 1984, was followed by a CBS miniseries, Ellis Island. A year later, Richardson appeared in a revival of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull; her first professional work in London's West End. That same year she made her UK television debut alongside Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes appearing as Violet Hunter in the episode "The Copper Beeches". Soon after, she starred in a London stage production of High Society, adapted from the acclaimed Cole Porter film, and successively portrayed Mary Godwin in the 1987 Ken Russell film, Gothic. The same year she starred opposite Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in A Month in the Country, directed by Pat O'Connor. A major moment in advancement was her starring role in The Handmaid's Tale (1990), playing opposite Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway. She starred in Nell (1994) alongside her future husband Liam Neeson and Jodie Foster.

She blocked the ITV remake of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, against the wishes of writer Alan Sillitoe, for "personal reasons." Danny Brocklehurst's adaptation was to be a major reworking for the original 1950s novel. Richardson denied access to the story, angering many industry professionals[who?] who believe the novel is due a reappraisal, forty seven years after the original film, produced by Richardson's father, was made.[citation needed]

[edit] Personal life

Her first marriage was to theatrical producer Robert Fox, from 1984 to 1993. She has been married to Irish actor Liam Neeson since late 1994. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Micheál Richard Antonio Neeson (born June 22, 1995), and Daniel Jack Neeson (born August 27, 1996).

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Theatrical appearances

Awards
Preceded by
Bebe Neuwirth
for Chicago		 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
1998
for Cabaret		 Succeeded by
Bernadette Peters
for Annie Get Your Gun

[edit] References

[edit] External links