Natasha Richardson
Encyclopedia
Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family
, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave
and director/producer Tony Richardson
and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave
and Rachel Kempson
. Early in her career, she portrayed Mary Shelley
and Patty Hearst
in feature films, and she received critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award
for her Broadway
debut in the 1993 revival of Anna Christie
. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical
, and the Outer Critics Circle Award
for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret
. Some of her notable films included Patty Hearst
(1988), The Handmaid's Tale
(1990), Nell
(1994), The Parent Trap
(1998) and Maid in Manhattan
(2002).
Her first marriage to filmmaker Robert Fox
ended in divorce in 1992. In 1994, she married Irish actor Liam Neeson
, whom she had met when the two appeared in Anna Christie. The couple had two sons, Micheál and Daniel. Richardson's father died of AIDS
-related causes in 1991. She helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS through the charity amfAR
, the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Richardson died in 2009 following a head injury
sustained when she fell during a skiing
lesson in Quebec
.
and actress Vanessa Redgrave
, granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, sister of Joely Richardson
, half sister of Carlo Gabriel Nero and Katharine Grimond Hess, niece of actress Lynn Redgrave
and actor Corin Redgrave
, and cousin of Jemma Redgrave
.
Richardson's parents divorced in 1967. The following year, she made her film debut at the age of four in an uncredited role in The Charge of the Light Brigade
, directed by her father.
Richardson was educated in London at two leading independent schools, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
in South Kensington
, London and St. Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith
, London, before training at the Central School of Speech and Drama
.
in Leeds
. Her first professional work in London's West End
was in a revival of Anton Chekhov
's The Seagull
in 1985. Soon after, she starred in a London stage production of High Society
, adapted from the acclaimed Cole Porter
film. In 1998, she played the role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes
' acclaimed revival of Cabaret
on Broadway, for which she won the Tony Award
for Best Actress in a Musical. The following year she returned to Broadway in Closer
, for which she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
, and in 2005, she appeared again with the Roundabout, this time as Blanche DuBois
in their revival of Tennessee Williams
's A Streetcar Named Desire
, opposite John C. Reilly
as Stanley Kowalski
. In January 2009, two months before her death, Richardson played the role of Desirée in a concert production of Stephen Sondheim
's A Little Night Music
, opposite her mother, Vanessa Redgrave
who played Mme. Armfeldt. The two were slated to headline a brand new Broadway
production (which became the current Broadway revival directed by Trevor Nunn
), which never came to fruition.
, a fictionalized account of the author's creation of Frankenstein
. The following year she starred opposite Kenneth Branagh
and Colin Firth
in A Month in the Country
, directed by Pat O'Connor
. Director Paul Schrader
signed her for the title role in Patty Hearst
, his 1988 docudrama
about the heiress and her alleged kidnapping. Her performances opposite Robert Duvall
and Faye Dunaway
in The Handmaid's Tale
and Christopher Walken
, Rupert Everett
, and Helen Mirren
in The Comfort of Strangers
(directed by Schrader) won her the 1990 Evening Standard
British Film Award for Best Actress. In 1991 she appeared in The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish
alongside Bob Hoskins
. He later credited her with giving him the best kiss of his life during the film. "She got hold of me and kissed me like I've never been kissed before. I was gobsmacked". She was named Best Actress at the 1994 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
for Widows' Peak
, and that same year appeared in Nell
opposite Jodie Foster
and future husband Liam Neeson. Additional film credits include The Parent Trap
(1998), Blow Dry
(2001), Chelsea Walls
(2001), Waking Up in Reno
(2002), Maid in Manhattan
(2002), Asylum (2005), which won her a second Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, The White Countess
(2005), and Evening
(2007). Her last screen appearance was as headmistress of a girls' school in the 2008 comedy Wild Child. During the last week of January 2009, she recorded her offscreen role of the wife of climber George Mallory
, who disappeared while climbing Mount Everest
during a 1924 expedition, in the 2010 documentary film
The Wildest Dream
, for which Liam Neeson provides narration. Director Anthony Geffen described listening to the film since her death as "harrowing."
miniseries
Ellis Island. That same year she made her British television debut in an episode of the BBC
series Oxbridge Blues
. The following year she appeared as Violet Hunter alongside Jeremy Brett
and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
, in the episode entitled "The Copper Beeches". She starred with Judi Dench
, Michael Gambon
, and Kenneth Branagh
in a 1987 BBC adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen
play Ghosts
; with Maggie Smith
and Rob Lowe
in a 1993 BBC adaptation of Suddenly, Last Summer
by Tennessee Williams
; portrayed Zelda Fitzgerald
in the 1993 television movie Zelda
; and starred in Haven (2001) on CBS and The Mastersons of Manhattan (2007) on NBC.
Richardson's first marriage to filmmaker Robert Fox
lasted from 1990 to 1992. She married Irish actor Liam Neeson
in the summer of 1994 at the home they shared near Millbrook, New York
; she had taken American citizenship. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Micheál (born 1995) and Daniel (born 1996). Richardson helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS; her father, director Tony Richardson
, died of AIDS-related causes in 1991.
Richardson was actively involved in amfAR
, becoming a board of trustees member in 2006, and participated in many other AIDS charities including Bailey House, God's Love We Deliver, Mothers' Voices, AIDS Crisis Trust and National AIDS Trust, for which she was an ambassador. Richardson received amfAR's Award of Courage in November 2000.
A long-time smoker, although she had reportedly quit smoking, Richardson was an outspoken opponent of the ban on smoking in New York City restaurants.
when she fell while taking a beginner skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort
in Quebec, about 130 kilometres (80.8 mi) from Montreal
. The injury was followed by a lucid interval
, when Richardson seemed to be fine and was able to talk and act normally. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. Refusing medical attention twice, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur
, Montreal
, in critical condition and was admitted about seven hours after the fall. The following day she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital
in New York City
, where she died on 18 March.
An autopsy
conducted by the New York City Medical Examiners Office
on 19 March revealed the cause of death was an "epidural hematoma
due to blunt impact to the head", and her death was ruled an accident.
On 19 March, theatre lights were dimmed on Broadway in New York and in London's West End as a mark of respect for Richardson. The following day, a private wake was held at the American Irish Historical Society
in Manhattan
. On 22 March, a private funeral was held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church near Millbrook, New York, close to the family's upstate home, and Richardson was buried near her grandmother Rachel Kempson
in the church cemetery. Richardson's aunt Lynn Redgrave
was also buried in the same cemetery on 8 May 2010, near Richardson and Kempson.
Richardson's family issued a statement the day of her death, "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 not wearing a helmet when she sustained her injury. This sparked a debate over whether wearing helmets while skiing should be mandatory. After the incident, the spokesman for Mont Tremblant ski resort, Ian Galbraith, stated that "we recommend all skiers and boarders wear helmets, (but) it is a matter of personal preference whether our guests choose to do so." However, there is not enough sound medical evidence to determine whether wearing helmets decreases the risk of injury or death. Therefore, a mandatory helmet law was never implemented in Quebec; however, the Quebec Ski Areas Association budgeted 200,000 dollars towards a safety campaign. Furthermore, according to a BBC report, the number of skiers and snowboarders who wore helmets increased substantially after Richardson's death and several other high profile incidents.
Redgrave family
The Redgrave family is an English acting dynasty, spanning four generations. Members of the family worked in theatre beginning in the nineteenth century, and later in film and television. Some family members have also written plays and books. Vanessa Redgrave is the most prominent, having won...
, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
and director/producer Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...
and Rachel Kempson
Rachel Kempson
Rachel, Lady Redgrave , known primarily by her birth name as Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty.-Career:...
. Early in her career, she portrayed Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
and Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
in feature films, and she received critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in the 1993 revival of Anna Christie
Anna Christie
Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...
, and the Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
for her performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
. Some of her notable films included Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst (film)
Patty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Hearst Corporation heiress Patricia Hearst and Ving Rhames as Symbionese Liberation Army leader Cinque...
(1988), The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale (film)
The Handmaid's Tale is a 1990 film adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff the film stars Natasha Richardson , Faye Dunaway , Robert Duvall , Aidan Quinn , and Elizabeth McGovern . The screenplay was written by Harold Pinter...
(1990), Nell
Nell (film)
Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...
(1994), The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
(1998) and Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Wang about a hotel maid and a high profile politician who fall in love starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, and Natasha Richardson. It is based on a story by John Hughes who is credited using a pseudonym. The original music score...
(2002).
Her first marriage to filmmaker Robert Fox
Robert Fox (producer)
Robert Michael John Fox is an English theatre and film producer, whose work includes the 2002 film, The Hours.-Life and career:...
ended in divorce in 1992. In 1994, she married Irish actor Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, whom she had met when the two appeared in Anna Christie. The couple had two sons, Micheál and Daniel. Richardson's father died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related causes in 1991. She helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS through the charity amfAR
AmfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy.-History:...
, the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Richardson died in 2009 following a head injury
Head injury
Head injury refers to trauma of the head. This may or may not include injury to the brain. However, the terms traumatic brain injury and head injury are often used interchangeably in medical literature....
sustained when she fell during a skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
lesson in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Early life
Richardson was born and raised in London, a member of the Redgrave family, known as a theatrical and film acting dynasty. She was the daughter of director and producer Tony RichardsonTony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
and actress Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
, granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, sister of Joely Richardson
Joely Richardson
Joely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
, half sister of Carlo Gabriel Nero and Katharine Grimond Hess, niece of actress Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
and actor Corin Redgrave
Corin Redgrave
Corin William Redgrave was an English actor and political activist.-Early life:Redgrave was born in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson...
, and cousin of Jemma Redgrave
Jemma Redgrave
Jemma Redgrave is a fourth-generation English actress of the Redgrave family.-Early life/family:Born in London as Jemima Rebecca Redgrave, she is the daughter of the late actor Corin Redgrave and his first wife, the late Deirdre Hamilton-Hill, a former fashion model. They divorced when Jemma was...
.
Richardson's parents divorced in 1967. The following year, she made her film debut at the age of four in an uncredited role in The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)
The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British war film made by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists . It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley....
, directed by her father.
Richardson was educated in London at two leading independent schools, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle
The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is a large French primary and secondary school situated in South Kensington, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London...
in South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London and St. Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, London, before training at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
.
Theatre
Richardson began her career in regional theatre at the West Yorkshire PlayhouseWest Yorkshire Playhouse
The West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England is a theatre which opened in March 1990 as part of the regeneration of the Quarry Hill area of the city...
in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. Her first professional work in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
was in a revival of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
in 1985. Soon after, she starred in a London stage production of High Society
High Society (musical)
High Society is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on the Philip Barry play The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 musical screen adaptation with Porter's songs, High Society, the plot centers on pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Lord, who is planning...
, adapted from the acclaimed Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
film. In 1998, she played the role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
' acclaimed revival of Cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
on Broadway, for which she won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actress in a Musical. The following year she returned to Broadway in Closer
Closer (play)
Closer is the third play written by English playwright Patrick Marber. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London in 1997, and made its North American debut at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway on 25 January 1999....
, for which she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since...
, and in 2005, she appeared again with the Roundabout, this time as Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire...
in their revival of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
's A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
, opposite John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
as Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.-In the play:Stanley lives in the working class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella , and is employed as a factory parts salesman. He was an Army engineer in WWII, having...
. In January 2009, two months before her death, Richardson played the role of Desirée in a concert production of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
, opposite her mother, Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
who played Mme. Armfeldt. The two were slated to headline a brand new Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production (which became the current Broadway revival directed by Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
), which never came to fruition.
Film
Richardson portrayed Mary Shelley in the 1986 film GothicGothic (film)
Gothic is a 1986 film directed by Ken Russell. It starred Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley and Timothy Spall as Dr John William Polidori...
, a fictionalized account of the author's creation of Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
. The following year she starred opposite Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
and Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
in A Month in the Country
A Month in the Country (film)
A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O'Connor. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide...
, directed by Pat O'Connor
Pat O'Connor (director)
Pat O'Connor, born in Ardmore, County Waterford, is an Irish film director.In 1982, O'Connor won a Jacob's Award for his direction of the RTÉ TV adaptation of William Trevor's short story, Ballroom of Romance starring Cyril Cusack and Brenda Fricker. It was shot near the village of Ballycroy,...
. Director Paul Schrader
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and former film critic. Apart from his credentials as a director, Schrader is most notably known for his screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull....
signed her for the title role in Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst (film)
Patty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Hearst Corporation heiress Patricia Hearst and Ving Rhames as Symbionese Liberation Army leader Cinque...
, his 1988 docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
about the heiress and her alleged kidnapping. Her performances opposite Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
and Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
in The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale (film)
The Handmaid's Tale is a 1990 film adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff the film stars Natasha Richardson , Faye Dunaway , Robert Duvall , Aidan Quinn , and Elizabeth McGovern . The screenplay was written by Harold Pinter...
and Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
, Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
, and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
in The Comfort of Strangers
The Comfort of Strangers
The Comfort of Strangers is a 1981 novel by British writer Ian McEwan. It is his second novel, and is set in an unnamed city . It was adapted into a film in 1990 , which starred Rupert Everett, Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren and Natasha Richardson...
(directed by Schrader) won her the 1990 Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
British Film Award for Best Actress. In 1991 she appeared in The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish
The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish
The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish is a 1991 comedy, directed by Ben Lewin, starring Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum and Natasha Richardson. The story, set in Paris, follows the fateful meeting of Louis Aubinar with Sybil, who brings into his life her last unfortunate lover, the Pianist...
alongside Bob Hoskins
Bob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
. He later credited her with giving him the best kiss of his life during the film. "She got hold of me and kissed me like I've never been kissed before. I was gobsmacked". She was named Best Actress at the 1994 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
for Widows' Peak
Widows' Peak
Widows' Peak is a 1994 British-Irish film. It stars Mia Farrow, Dame Joan Plowright, Natasha Richardson, Adrian Dunbar and Jim Broadbent. It is directed by John Irvin...
, and that same year appeared in Nell
Nell (film)
Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...
opposite Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
and future husband Liam Neeson. Additional film credits include The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap (1998 film)
The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their...
(1998), Blow Dry
Blow Dry
Blow Dry is a 2001 comedy film directed by Paddy Breathnach, written by Simon Beaufoy and starring Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson and Josh Hartnett.-Plot:...
(2001), Chelsea Walls
Chelsea Walls
Chelsea Walls is an American independent film directed by Ethan Hawke and released by Lions Gate Entertainment. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, and Robert Sean Leonard among others, with original score by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. The story takes place in the historic Chelsea...
(2001), Waking Up in Reno
Waking Up in Reno
Waking Up in Reno is a 2002 American comedy drama film directed by Jordan Brady. The screenplay by Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser focuses on two redneck couples taking a road trip from Little Rock to Reno to see a monster truck rally.-Plot:...
(2002), Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Wang about a hotel maid and a high profile politician who fall in love starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, and Natasha Richardson. It is based on a story by John Hughes who is credited using a pseudonym. The original music score...
(2002), Asylum (2005), which won her a second Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, The White Countess
The White Countess
The White Countess is a 2005 British/American/Chinese drama film directed by James Ivory. The screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro focuses on a disparate group of displaced persons attempting to survive in Shanghai in the late 1930s.-Plot:...
(2005), and Evening
Evening (film)
Evening is a 2007 German-American drama film directed by Lajos Koltai. The screenplay by Susan Minot and Michael Cunningham is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Susan Minot.-Plot:...
(2007). Her last screen appearance was as headmistress of a girls' school in the 2008 comedy Wild Child. During the last week of January 2009, she recorded her offscreen role of the wife of climber George Mallory
George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s....
, who disappeared while climbing Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
during a 1924 expedition, in the 2010 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
The Wildest Dream
The Wildest Dream
The Wildest Dream is a 2010 theatrical-release feature documentary film about the British climber George Mallory who disappeared on Mount Everest in 1924 with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine...
, for which Liam Neeson provides narration. Director Anthony Geffen described listening to the film since her death as "harrowing."
Television
Richardson made her American television debut in a small role in the 1984 CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Ellis Island. That same year she made her British television debut in an episode of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Oxbridge Blues
Oxbridge Blues
Oxbridge Blues is a British television mini-series, produced by the BBC and first shown in 1984. It is an anthology of seven 75-minute teleplays, most of which focus on relationships of one kind or another...
. The following year she appeared as Violet Hunter alongside Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (TV series)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the name given to the TV series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by British television company Granada Television between 1984 and 1994, although only the first two series bore that title on screen. The series was broadcast on the ITV network in the UK,...
, in the episode entitled "The Copper Beeches". She starred with Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
, and Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
in a 1987 BBC adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
play Ghosts
Ghosts (play)
Ghosts is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was written in 1881 and first staged in 1882.Like many of Ibsen's better-known plays, Ghosts is a scathing commentary on 19th century morality....
; with Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
and Rob Lowe
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler "Rob" Lowe is an American actor. Lowe came to prominence after appearing in films such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, About Last Night..., St. Elmo's Fire, and Wayne's World. On television, Lowe is known for his role as Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and his role as Senator Robert...
in a 1993 BBC adaptation of Suddenly, Last Summer
Suddenly, Last Summer
Suddenly, Last Summer is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams's one-acts, Something Unspoken. The presentation of the two plays was given the overall title Garden District, but Suddenly, Last Summer is...
by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
; portrayed Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald , born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery, Alabama, was an American novelist and the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was an icon of the 1920s—dubbed by her husband "the first American Flapper"...
in the 1993 television movie Zelda
Zelda (film)
Zelda is a 1993 television movie based on the lives of author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald, artist and fellow author....
; and starred in Haven (2001) on CBS and The Mastersons of Manhattan (2007) on NBC.
Personal life
Robert Fox (producer)
Robert Michael John Fox is an English theatre and film producer, whose work includes the 2002 film, The Hours.-Life and career:...
lasted from 1990 to 1992. She married Irish actor Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
in the summer of 1994 at the home they shared near Millbrook, New York
Millbrook, New York
Millbrook is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is often said to be a "low-key version of the Hamptons" and one of the wealthiest towns in New York State. Millbrook's estimated town population was 1,551 in 2008. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, an hour and thirty...
; she had taken American citizenship. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Micheál (born 1995) and Daniel (born 1996). Richardson helped raise millions of dollars in the fight against AIDS; her father, director Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
, died of AIDS-related causes in 1991.
Richardson was actively involved in amfAR
AmfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy.-History:...
, becoming a board of trustees member in 2006, and participated in many other AIDS charities including Bailey House, God's Love We Deliver, Mothers' Voices, AIDS Crisis Trust and National AIDS Trust, for which she was an ambassador. Richardson received amfAR's Award of Courage in November 2000.
A long-time smoker, although she had reportedly quit smoking, Richardson was an outspoken opponent of the ban on smoking in New York City restaurants.
Injury and death
On 16 March 2009, Richardson sustained a head injuryTraumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...
when she fell while taking a beginner skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort
Mont Tremblant Resort
Mont Tremblant Ski Resort is a year-round resort in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, about 130 km northwest of Montreal. It is best known as a ski destination, but also features a lake suitable for swimming and two golf courses in the summer months...
in Quebec, about 130 kilometres (80.8 mi) from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. The injury was followed by a lucid interval
Lucid interval
In emergency medicine, a lucid interval is a temporary improvement in a patient's condition after a traumatic brain injury, after which the condition deteriorates. A lucid interval is especially indicative of an epidural hematoma...
, when Richardson seemed to be fine and was able to talk and act normally. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. Refusing medical attention twice, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur
Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal
The Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal is a hospital in the Cartierville neighbourhood of Montreal, in Quebec, Canada.It is one of the largest teaching hospitals affiliated with the Université de Montréal, and one of the largest hospitals in Quebec....
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, in critical condition and was admitted about seven hours after the fall. The following day she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital
Lenox Hill Hospital, on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, is a 652-bed, acute care hospital and a major teaching affiliate of New York University Medical Center. Founded in 1857 as the German Dispensary, today's 10-building Lenox Hill Hospital complex has occupied its present site since...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she died on 18 March.
An autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
conducted by the New York City Medical Examiners Office
New York City Medical Examiners Office
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York investigates cases of persons who die within New York City from criminal violence; by casualty or by suicide; suddenly, when in apparent good health; when unattended by a physician; in a correctional facility; or in any suspicious or...
on 19 March revealed the cause of death was an "epidural hematoma
Epidural hematoma
Epidural or extradural hematoma is a type of traumatic brain injury in which a buildup of blood occurs between the dura mater and the skull. The dura mater also covers the spine, so epidural bleeds may also occur in the spinal column...
due to blunt impact to the head", and her death was ruled an accident.
On 19 March, theatre lights were dimmed on Broadway in New York and in London's West End as a mark of respect for Richardson. The following day, a private wake was held at the American Irish Historical Society
American Irish Historical Society
The American Irish Historical Society is a historical society devoted to Irish American history, founded in Boston in 1897. The Society's 50 founding members included Theodore Roosevelt, who was part-Irish...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. On 22 March, a private funeral was held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church near Millbrook, New York, close to the family's upstate home, and Richardson was buried near her grandmother Rachel Kempson
Rachel Kempson
Rachel, Lady Redgrave , known primarily by her birth name as Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty.-Career:...
in the church cemetery. Richardson's aunt Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
was also buried in the same cemetery on 8 May 2010, near Richardson and Kempson.
Richardson's family issued a statement the day of her death, "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 not wearing a helmet when she sustained her injury. This sparked a debate over whether wearing helmets while skiing should be mandatory. After the incident, the spokesman for Mont Tremblant ski resort, Ian Galbraith, stated that "we recommend all skiers and boarders wear helmets, (but) it is a matter of personal preference whether our guests choose to do so." However, there is not enough sound medical evidence to determine whether wearing helmets decreases the risk of injury or death. Therefore, a mandatory helmet law was never implemented in Quebec; however, the Quebec Ski Areas Association budgeted 200,000 dollars towards a safety campaign. Furthermore, according to a BBC report, the number of skiers and snowboarders who wore helmets increased substantially after Richardson's death and several other high profile incidents.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film) The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British war film made by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists . It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley.... |
Flower girl at wedding | Uncredited appearance |
| 1986 | Gothic Gothic (film) Gothic is a 1986 film directed by Ken Russell. It starred Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Bysshe Shelley, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley and Timothy Spall as Dr John William Polidori... |
Mary Shelley Mary Shelley Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley... |
|
| 1987 | A Month in the Country A Month in the Country (film) A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O'Connor. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide... |
Alice Keach | |
| 1988 | Patty Hearst Patty Hearst (film) Patty Hearst is a 1988 biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Hearst Corporation heiress Patricia Hearst and Ving Rhames as Symbionese Liberation Army leader Cinque... |
Patty Hearst Patty Hearst Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber.... |
|
| 1989 | Fat Man and Little Boy Fat Man and Little Boy Fat Man and Little Boy is a 1989 film that reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret Allied endeavor to develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II. The film is named after the nuclear weapons known by the code names "Fat Man" and "Little Boy". The code names can be taken for joking... |
Jean Tatlock Jean Tatlock Jean Frances Tatlock M.D. , was an American psychiatrist, physician, and a member of the Communist Party. She is most noted for her romantic relationship with Manhattan Project scientific leader J. Robert Oppenheimer.... |
|
| 1990 | The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale (film) The Handmaid's Tale is a 1990 film adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff the film stars Natasha Richardson , Faye Dunaway , Robert Duvall , Aidan Quinn , and Elizabeth McGovern . The screenplay was written by Harold Pinter... |
Kate/Offred | Evening Standard British Film Awards Evening Standard British Film Awards The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous... — Best Actress |
| The Comfort of Strangers The Comfort of Strangers (film) The Comfort of Strangers is a 1990 film directed by Paul Schrader. The screenplay is by Harold Pinter, adapted from a short novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars Natasha Richardson, Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett and Helen Mirren... |
Mary | ||
| 1991 | The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish is a 1991 comedy, directed by Ben Lewin, starring Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum and Natasha Richardson. The story, set in Paris, follows the fateful meeting of Louis Aubinar with Sybil, who brings into his life her last unfortunate lover, the Pianist... |
Sybil | |
| 1992 | Past Midnight Past Midnight Past Midnight is a 1991 Neo-noir thriller film starring Paul Giamatti, Tom Wright and Clancy Brown alongside leads Rutger Hauer and Natasha Richardson.-Synopsis:... |
Laura Mathews | |
| 1994 | Nell Nell (film) Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by... |
Dr. Paula Olsen | |
| Widows' Peak Widows' Peak Widows' Peak is a 1994 British-Irish film. It stars Mia Farrow, Dame Joan Plowright, Natasha Richardson, Adrian Dunbar and Jim Broadbent. It is directed by John Irvin... |
Mrs Edwina Broome | Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events.... — Best Actress |
|
| 1998 | The Parent Trap The Parent Trap (1998 film) The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961 family film of the same name. It was directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It stars Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson as a couple who divorce soon after marrying, and Lindsay Lohan in a dual role as their... |
Elizabeth James | |
| 2001 | Blow Dry Blow Dry Blow Dry is a 2001 comedy film directed by Paddy Breathnach, written by Simon Beaufoy and starring Alan Rickman, Natasha Richardson and Josh Hartnett.-Plot:... |
Shelley Allen | |
| Chelsea Walls Chelsea Walls Chelsea Walls is an American independent film directed by Ethan Hawke and released by Lions Gate Entertainment. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, and Robert Sean Leonard among others, with original score by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. The story takes place in the historic Chelsea... |
Mary | ||
| 2002 | Waking Up In Reno Waking Up in Reno Waking Up in Reno is a 2002 American comedy drama film directed by Jordan Brady. The screenplay by Brent Briscoe and Mark Fauser focuses on two redneck couples taking a road trip from Little Rock to Reno to see a monster truck rally.-Plot:... |
Darlene Dodd | |
| Maid in Manhattan Maid in Manhattan Maid in Manhattan is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Wang about a hotel maid and a high profile politician who fall in love starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, and Natasha Richardson. It is based on a story by John Hughes who is credited using a pseudonym. The original music score... |
Caroline Lane | ||
| 2005 | The White Countess The White Countess The White Countess is a 2005 British/American/Chinese drama film directed by James Ivory. The screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro focuses on a disparate group of displaced persons attempting to survive in Shanghai in the late 1930s.-Plot:... |
Countess Sofia Belinskya | |
| Asylum | Stella Raphael | Executive producer Evening Standard British Film Awards — Best Actress Nominated — British Independent Film Awards British Independent Film Awards The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British... — Best Actress |
|
| 2007 | Evening Evening (film) Evening is a 2007 German-American drama film directed by Lajos Koltai. The screenplay by Susan Minot and Michael Cunningham is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Susan Minot.-Plot:... |
Constance Lord | |
| 2008 | Wild Child | Mrs. Kingsley | Final film appearance |
| 2010 | The Wildest Dream The Wildest Dream The Wildest Dream is a 2010 theatrical-release feature documentary film about the British climber George Mallory who disappeared on Mount Everest in 1924 with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine... |
Ruth Mallory (wife of George Mallory George Mallory George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s.... ) |
Voice only, final performance before death, Liam Neeson narrated. |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Oxbridge Blues Oxbridge Blues Oxbridge Blues is a British television mini-series, produced by the BBC and first shown in 1984. It is an anthology of seven 75-minute teleplays, most of which focus on relationships of one kind or another... |
Gabriella | |
| 1985 | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (TV series) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the name given to the TV series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by British television company Granada Television between 1984 and 1994, although only the first two series bore that title on screen. The series was broadcast on the ITV network in the UK,... |
Violet Hunter | Episode — "The Copper Beeches The Adventure of the Copper Beeches "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the last of the twelve collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes... " |
| 1987 | Ghosts | Regina | |
| 1993 | Zelda Zelda (film) Zelda is a 1993 television movie based on the lives of author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda Fitzgerald, artist and fellow author.... |
Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald , born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery, Alabama, was an American novelist and the wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was an icon of the 1920s—dubbed by her husband "the first American Flapper"... |
|
| Hostages | Jill Morrell Jill Morrell Jill Morrell was the girlfriend of John McCarthy, and was a tireless and effective campaigner for his release from kidnappers who held him in Lebanon for more than 5 years... |
||
| Suddenly Last Summer | Catharine Holly | ||
| 1996 | Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt (TV series) Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO... |
Fiona Havisham | |
| 2001 | Haven | Ruth Gruber Ruth Gruber Ruth Gruber is an American journalist, photographer, writer, humanitarian and a former United States government official.-Early life:... |
|
| 2007 | Mastersons of Manhattan | Victoria Masterson | |
| 2008 | Top Chef Top Chef (season 5) Top Chef: New York is the fifth season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in New York City, New York, and concluded in New Orleans, Louisiana... |
Guest Judge |
Theatre
| Year | Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | On the Razzle On the Razzle (play) On the Razzle is a play by Tom Stoppard. It is an adaptation of the Viennese play Einen Jux will er sich machen by Johann Nestroy, which previously was adapted twice by Thornton Wilder... |
||
| Top Girls Top Girls Top Girls is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It is about a woman named Marlene, a career-driven woman who is employed at the 'Top Girls' employment agency. The play examines issues of gender discrimination present in the Thatcherite society that it is set in... |
|||
| Charley's Aunt Charley's Aunt Charley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances.... |
|||
| 1985 | The Seagull The Seagull The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896... |
Nina | Plays and Players - Most Promising Newcomer Award |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta... |
Helena | ||
| Hamlet Hamlet The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601... |
Ophelia | ||
| 1987 | High Society High Society (musical) High Society is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on the Philip Barry play The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 musical screen adaptation with Porter's songs, High Society, the plot centers on pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Lord, who is planning... |
Tracy | |
| 1993 | Anna Christie Anna Christie Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:... |
Anna | London Drama Critics' Best Actress Award (London production) Outer Critics Circle Award — Outstanding Debut of an Actress Theatre World Award Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:... — Outstanding Debut Nominated — Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:... |
| 1998 | Cabaret Cabaret (musical) Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions.... |
Sally Bowles | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... Outer Critics Circle Award Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets... Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical |
| 1999 | Closer Closer (play) Closer is the third play written by English playwright Patrick Marber. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London in 1997, and made its North American debut at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway on 25 January 1999.... |
Anna | |
| 2003 | The Lady from the Sea The Lady from the Sea The Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.Kvinnan från havet is a ballet by choreographer Birgit Cullberg, and based on Ibsen's play... |
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| 2005 | A Streetcar Named Desire A Streetcar Named Desire (play) A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was... |
Blanche DuBois |
External links
- Natasha Richardson - Daily Telegraph obituary