Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was an English stage and screen actress.
She was the daughter of actor Vanessa Redgrave and director-producer Tony Richardson, the sister of actor Joely Richardson, the cousin of actor Jemma Redgrave, and the granddaughter of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Early in her career, she played Mary Shelley in Ken Russell's Gothic and the title role in Paul Schrader's Patty Hearst, and received critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award for her debut on Broadway, playing the title role 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 The Handmaid's Tale, Nell, The Parent Trap, and Maid in Manhattan.
Her first marriage to filmmaker Robert Fox ended in divorce in 1992. In 1994, she married fellow 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.
She died on 18 March 2009 from an epidural hematoma after a skiing accident in Quebec, Canada.
Works she appeared in with TV Tropes pages:
- The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) as Flower Girl (uncredited)
- Gothic (1986) as Mary Shelley
- Patty Hearst (1988) as Patty Hearst
- Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) as Jean Tatlock
- The Handmaid's Tale (1990) as Kate/Offred
- Nell (1994) as Dr. Paula Olsen
- The Parent Trap (1998) as Elizabeth "Liz" James
- Blow Dry (2001) as Shelley Allen
- Maid in Manhattan (2002) as Caroline Lane
- Wild Child (2008) as Mrs. Kingsley
- Screen Two (1 episode, 1985) as Jilly
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1 episode, 1985) as Violet Hunter
- Ghosts (TV movie, 1987) as Regina
- Suddenly, Last Summer (TV movie, 1993) as Catharine Holly
- Tales from the Crypt (1 episode, 1996) as Fiona Havisham
- Top Chef (2008) as Herself - Guest Judge
- Charley's Aunt (1983) as Amy Spettigue
- The Seagull (1985) as Nina
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1985) as Helena
- Hamlet (1985) as Ophelia
- High Society (1986–87) as Tracy Lord
- Anna Christie (1993) as Anna Christie
- Cabaret (1998) as Sally Bowles
- Closer (1999) as Anna Cameron
- The Lady from the Sea (2003) as Ellida Wangel
- A Streetcar Named Desire (2005) as Blanche DuBois
Tropes associated with her work:
- Creator Backlash: For The Handmaid's Tale; she wanted the film to have a voiceover to convey her character's inner feelings as they had been in the book - but the director didn't like voiceover and so it wasn't included.
- Fake American: The Handmaid's Tale, Patty Hearst
- I Am Not Spock: Despite her impressive resume across film, TV and stage, to a generation of '90s kids she is best known for The Parent Trap. Indeed, when she died a good number of obituaries identified her as the mother from The Parent Trap. It helps that it was probably her biggest box-office hit and the only film she made for Disney.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: While most of her initial film and TV roles were dramatic, in the '90s and 2000s she appeared in a lot more comedies such as The Parent Trap, Blow Dry, Waking Up In Reno, Maid in Manhattan, and Wild Child.
- Playing Against Type:
- The Parent Trap was noted to be quite different for her, as she had been playing lots of either Ice Queen roles or dramatic heroines.
- Maid in Manhattan has her playing a ditzy socialite.
- Waking Up In Reno has her playing a white trash Southern Belle.
- Real-Life Relative:
- She starred with her mother and aunt in the film The White Countess. They play her character's mother and aunt, like real life.
- She also played the younger version of Vanessa Redgrave in Evening.
- Romance on the Set: She and Liam Neeson met while working on Nell together.
- What Could Have Been:
- Before she died, she was planning to star in a Broadway revival of A Little Night Music alongside her mother.
- Liam Neeson was going to star alongside her in Asylum but he was committed to Kinsey.
- She replaced Sigourney Weaver in The Handmaid's Tale after Weaver became pregnant.
