Natasha Richardson dies

Reuters

SKIING ACCIDENT: Family surrounded actress Natasha Richardson, pictured with husband Liam Neeson, at a New York hospital after she was severely injured skiing.

JOELY VISITS: Natasha's actress sister visited her at the New York hospital.

LAUREN BACALL: The actress was among family and friends who visited the New York hospital.

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Award-winning actress Natasha Richardson, a member of Britain's Redgrave acting dynasty, died on Wednesday at age 45 after a suffering a severe injury in a skiing accident in Canada earlier this week.

Richardson had been hospitalized in New York since yesterday, surrounded by her husband, actor Liam Neeson, her two sons Michael, 13, and Daniel Jack, 12, and members of her immediate family.

"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," family spokesman Alan Nierob said in a statement.

Richardson followed her mother, Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave, and her father, film director Tony Richardson, into a career on stage and screen in England and in the United States. She won Broadway's Tony Award for playing Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret.

Richardson was injured two days ago when she fell during a private ski lesson at the Mont Trembant resort, about 120km north of Montreal.

A spokeswoman for the resort said she appeared to be in good condition after the fall but her instructor called a ski patrol to take her to the bottom of the hill.

About an hour later, she complained of severe headaches and was admitted to a local medical facility before eventually being transferred to the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York where her family rushed to be with her.

Several media reports said she had suffered a severe head trauma, but that could not be immediately confirmed. Nierob's statement did not mention a cause of death.

Richardson was born in London in May 1963, and she trained at the city's prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama.

She was perhaps best known worldwide for film roles that included playing a young Lindsay Lohan's mother in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap and for her role in the Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan.

But first and foremost she was a theater actress, equally at home on the stages of London's West End and New York's Broadway. She won a most promising newcomer award in 1986 for her London performance in The Seagull, opposite her mother, then went on to win the Tony in 1998 for her role as songstress Bowles in Cabaret.

Early in her career, she starred in Patty Hearst, a 1988 drama about the US newspaper heiress abducted by radicals.

She enjoyed a prolific television career, as well, with starring roles in the BBC production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts and the 2001 CBS mini-series Haven.

Her latest movie role was as a strict English boarding school headmistress in the 2008 teen comedy Wild Child.

Richardson met Neeson, 56, on the set of the Jodie Foster film drama Nell. The couple married in July 1994 and had two sons. Her first marriage, to filmmaker Robert Fox, lasted two years.

Richardson's sister is the Nip/Tuck star, Joely Richardson, and she is the granddaughter of the late British actor Sir Michael Redgrave and the niece of actors Lynn and Corin Redgrave.

NATASHA RICHARDSON

* She was born in London on May 11, 1963, into the Redgrave acting dynasty. She is the eldest daughter of renowned stage and film actress Vanessa Redgrave and her then-husband, the late director Tony Richardson.

* She is the granddaughter of the late British actor Sir Michael Redgrave and niece of actors Lynn and Corin Redgrave. Her sister, Joely Richardson, appears on the US television show Nip/Tuck.

* Richardson had been married to Irish actor Liam Neeson, 56, since 1994. They met on the set of the 1994 Jodie Foster film, Nell. The couple have two sons Michael, 13, and Daniel Jack, 12. Prior to marrying Neeson, Richardson was married for two years to British producer-director Robert Fox.

* She trained at London's prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama. Richardson has acted extensively in London's West End and on Broadway.

* She won a US Tony Award in 1998 for her performance in the musical Cabaret, and she was named most promising newcomer in 1986 for her London performance in The Seagull.

* Her film credits include Gothic (1986), A Month in the Country (1987), Nell (1994), in which she appeared with Neeson, and The Parent Trap (1998).