Natasha Richardson

Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was an English-American actress of stage and screen. Richardson was a member of the Redgrave family, being 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 in Ken Russell's Gothic (1986) and Patty Hearst in the 1988 biopic film directed by Paul Schrader, and later received critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 1993 revival of Anna Christie. She also appeared in The Handmaid's Tale (1990), Nell (1994), The Parent Trap (1998), Maid in Manhattan (2002) and The White Countess (2005). 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. Richardson died on 18 March 2009 from an epidural hematoma after hitting her head in a skiing accident in Quebec, Canada.