Natasha Richardson Tribute

Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was an English stage and screen actress. 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 Nell (1994), The Parent Trap (1998) and Maid in Manhattan (2002).
Richardson was raised in London. 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. The actress died in 2009 following a head injury sustained when she fell during a skiing lesson in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Early life

Richardson was born 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 Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave, granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson,[sister of Joely Richardson, 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.

Personal life

Her first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox, from 1990 to 1992. She married Irish actor Liam Neeson in late 1994 at the home they shared near Millbrook, New York. 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, 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 injury, when she fell while taking a skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec, Canada. The injury was followed by a lucid interval, where Richardson seemed to be fine and was able to talk and act appropriately. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. Refusing medical attention, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal 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 on 19 March 2009 by the New York City Medical Examiners Office revealed the cause of death was an "epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head", and her death was ruled an accident.
Theatre lights were dimmed on Broadway and in London's West End as a mark of respect to Richardson. The funeral took place in private on 22 March and she is buried near her grandmother, close to the family's upstate New York home.