Actress Natasha Richardson dies

[Rasputin]

British actress Natasha Richardson has died from injuries sustained in a skiing accident, her husband Liam Neeson's publicist has said.

Richardson, 45, daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave, fell on a beginners' slope at the Mont Tremblant resort in Canada on Monday.

Neeson said that the family were devastated by the death of their "beloved Natasha".

She died in a New York hospital where she had been transferred.

Richardson initially showed no sign of injury after the incident but about an hour later she was taken to a nearby hospital after feeling unwell. It was later confirmed her injuries were critical.

Neeson, 56, her mother, Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, 72, and two sons, Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12, had gathered at her beside after she was flown from Canada to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York on Tuesday.

Alan Nierob, Neeson's publicist, said: "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 starred on film and TV but won most acclaim for her stage work.


Natasha Richardson has died after suffering head injuries from a fall on a Canadian ski slope Monday. She was 45.

Her family released the following statement:

"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."

[Rasputin]

ناتاشا ریچاردسون هنرپیشه در پی سانحه اسکی درگذشت

نیسون و ریچاردسون دو فرزند پسر دارند
ناتاشا ریچاردسون هنرپیشه بریتانیایی در اثر جراحات وارده در یک سانحه اسکی در گذشته است. این خبر را نماینده لیام نیسون، هنرپیشه آمریکایی و شوهر خانم ریچاردسون اعلام کرد.

خانم ریچاردسون، 45 ساله، دختر ونسا ردگریو هنرپیشه برنده اسکار روز دوشنبه در پیست اسکی ویژه افراد مبتدی در مرکز سیاحتی "مونت ترمبلانت" در کانادا دچار حادثه شد.

نماینده لیام نیسون گفت که خانواده از مرگ "ناتاشای عزیز" به نهایت داغدار است.

وی در بیمارستانی در نیویورک که به آن منتقل شده بود درگذشت.

ابتدا پس از حادثه هیچ نشانه ای از آسیب دیدگی در خانم ریچاردسون دیده نشد اما حدود یک ساعت بعد احساس ناراحتی کرد و به بیمارستانی در آن اطراف منتقل شد.


ریچاردسون دختر ونسا ردگریو (راست) برنده اسکار بود
بعد از آن بود که تایید شد جراحات وی جانش را تهدید می کند.

نیسون 56 ساله، ونسا ردگریو 72 ساله، و دو فرزند خانم ریچاردسون مایکل و دانیل که سیزده و دوازده سال دارند روز سه شنبه وقتی از کانادا به بیمارستان لنوکس هیل نیویورک منتقل شد در کنار او بودند.

الن نیروب نماینده هنری آقای نیسون گفت: "لیام نیسون، پسرانش، و کل خانواده از مرگ تکان دهنده ناتاشای عزیز خود داغدار هستند."

"آنها عمیقا از حمایت، محبت و دعای دیگران سپاسگزارند و در این برهه دشوار خواستار حفظ حریم خصوصی خود هستند."

ریچاردسون در آثار سینمایی و تلویزیونی ظاهر شده بود اما منتقدان بیش از هر چیز به خاطر بازی هایش در تئاتر او را ستایش می کردند.

[Rasputin]

As Broadway prepares to dim its lights Thursday night in her memory, the shock and sadness over Natasha Richardson's untimely death is still settling in among the theatrical and filmmaking communities, with reactions pouring in from both sides of the Atlantic from several generations of fellow performers, including Ralph Fiennes, Judi Dench, Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan.

"For everyone who knew and loved her, Natasha's death is a terrible, devastating loss. She was a star. A great actress, a beautiful woman, a fiercely loyal friend, a brilliant and generous companion," said Fiennes, a longtime friend of Richardson's who starred with her in the 2001 film Maid in Manhattan. "She was an adoring and loving wife and mother. She was unique. My thoughts and prayers go out to Liam and her beautiful sons, Micheal and Danny and to all her family. I cannot imagine a world without her wit, her love, her mischief, her great, great talent and her gift for living. I loved her very much. She was a supreme friend. I shall miss her deeply."

Dench, who costarred with Richardson in a 1987 TV production of Ibsen's Ghost, remembers her friend's "incredibly luminous quality that you seldom see, and a great sense of humor. I thought she was a really great actress and seemed to simply shine in both film and theater."

Of the 45-year-old Richardson's bloodlines – Vanessa Redgrave, of the theatrical Redgraves, is her mother, while her late father was Oscar-winning Tom Jones director Tony Richardson – Dench, 74, noted, "It's always difficult if you have parents in theater, it puts a very strange pressure on the children. I have no doubt [great work was to come]. It's been so shocking, really shocking – I hope everyone leaves the family alone to pick up the pieces."

Jane Fonda, who costarred with Vanessa Redgrave in 1977's Julia, for which the latter won an Oscar, was moved to express "utter sadness" on her personal blog. Recalling Richardson, Fonda, 71, writes, "I first met her on the set of Julia. She was a little girl but already beautiful and graceful. It didn't surprise me that she became such a talented actor."

Hearing the News
Fonda, currently starring in the Broadway drama 33 Variations, had wanted to visit the New York hospital where Richardson was being treated, but her show schedule prevented her from providing "any comfort I could bring," she says, adding that "as the curtain went up [Wednesday] I heard the tragic news. It is hard to even imagine what it must be like for her family. My heart is heavy."

In an essay titled "Tasha" on his blog, actor Alan Cumming, 44, who costarred with Richardson in her Tony-winning performance as Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret, writes, "The term 'life force' seems trite but that is what she was: a woman who powered through life and fascinated everyone she encountered. I have been thinking about the times I spent with her since I heard the news of her tragic accident, and the strongest memory I have is of her laughter, her unmistakable throaty laugh. I think that's a great way to remember someone."

On Live with Regis and Kelly Thursday the co-hosts both expressed sadness over the loss. (See video below.) Philbin, who lived near Richardson in New York, said, "She was so caring and loving ... She was a wonderful lady."

In a statement released to PEOPLE, film (Revolutionary Road) and stage (Cabaret) director Sam Mendes, 43, said, "Natasha combined the best of Redgrave and Richardson: the enormous depth and emotional force of a great actor on the one hand, and the intelligence and objectivity of a great director on the other. She was a one-of-a-kind, a magnificent actress."


'An Amazing Mother'
On a personal level, Mendes said, "She was also an amazing mother, a loyal friend and the greatest and most generous host you could ever hope to meet. It defies belief that this gifted, brave, tenacious, wonderful woman is gone."

Not only was Richardson a devoted parent to Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12, her two sons with husband Liam Neeson, 56, but she was also something of a surrogate mother to her "daughter" in 1998's The Parent Trap, Lindsay Lohan. "She was a wonderful woman and actress and treated me like I was her own," says Lohan, 22. "My heart goes out to her family. This is a tragic loss."

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Loved Ones Attend Wake for Natasha Richardson

Liam Neeson gathered with friends and loved ones at the American Irish Historical Society on Manhattan's Upper East Side Friday afternoon for a private viewing of his wife Natasha Richardson's body two days after her tragic death following a ski accident while on vacation in Canada.

Among those attending were Uma Thurman, Diane Sawyer and Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and sister, Joely Richardson.

At 2:20 p.m., shortly after a silver hearse pulled away from Society headquarters on Fifth Avenue, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neeson, in a black suit and dark sunglasses, arrived in a black Mercedes and walked quickly inside with one of his young sons, pausing only long enough to greet one mourner.

Longtime Richardson friend, Mathilde Krim, who is the founding chairman of the AIDS research organization amfAR, described the wake as "very respectful." The tearful Krim told PEOPLE that Richardson, looked "beautiful, incredibly beautiful" in her casket.

The previous night, when Broadway paid tribute to Richardson by dimming marquee lights for a one minute, Neeson was captured on tape speaking of "a traditional Irish wake," presumably this Friday's event.

Soon after Neeson's arrival, Vanessa Redgrave showed up with a small child in her arms. As those paying respects continued to stream in, food arrived for the mourners commemorating a woman who will long be remembered as one of the theater world's most graceful actresses. Neeson, who has sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, with Richardson, married his wife in 1994. They would have celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on July 3.

In a statement Friday, friend Sarah Jessica Parker, quoting the song lyrics "Every time we say goodbye, I die a little/Every time we say goodbye, I wonder why a little," said: "It's as if Cole Porter were writing the sentiments of everyone who was privileged enough to know, work with or love the late great Ms. Richardson."

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Family and friends of Natasha Richardson said their final goodbye to the star of stage and film during a funeral at St. Peter's Church in Millbrook, N.Y., on Sunday.

Under bright sun on a cold spring day, Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, their sons, Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, her mother Vanessa Redgrave, her sister Joely Richardson and friends Uma Thurman, Ralph Fiennes and Mia Farrow arrived at St. Peter's Church at 2:30 p.m.

Neeson, looking somber in a dark suit and sunglasses, briefly posed for photographers with his family before walking to the hearse, where he was the first to put his hand on the mahogany casket, which he and six other pallbearers carried to the church.

The ceremony lasted a little more than an hour. As the funeral ended, the sky became overcast. Neeson and the family drove to a nearby cemetery, where the burial took place under a large green tent. There, a grieving Vanessa Redgrave gave a thumbs-up to the fans and reporters who had gathered.

Richardson was laid to rest in the same cemetery where her grandmother Rachel Redgrave, the mother of Vanessa Redgrave, and better known by her stage name Rachel Kempson, is buried. The two plots face each other.

After the burial service, Neeson joined Vanessa on a short walk to Rachel's grave, where they paid their respects to the Redgrave family matriarch. Lynn followed afterwards.

At 4:45 p.m., Neeson left the cemetery after his final goodbye.

Neeson shared a home nearby with his late wife, who died after a ski accident that resulted in severe brain trauma.