Natasha Richardson being interviewed by Charlie Rose about her role in Cabaret and her career.
She had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a skiing accident in Canada on Monday, March 16, and was later transported to New York, where she passed away at age 45. In a statement, Richardson’s husband, Liam Neeson, and their family 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.”
Over the course of a renowned 25-year career that spanned every medium and every conceivable genre, Richardson proved her range time and again. She could acquit herself admirably in even the lightest fare, such as 1998′s family film The Parent Trap or the 2002 romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan, but as a member of the legendary Redgrave acting dynasty, which stretched back for generations, she always felt most at home tackling profound human dramas from the likes of Chekhov, Ibsen, Williams, and O’Neill. “I’m comfortable…where the most emotionally painful stuff is,” she told EW in 1998. “That’s where I feel a connection.”
On March 16, Richardson — the British-born daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson, niece of Lynn Redgrave, and older sister of Nip/Tuck star Joely Richardson — became the center of her own wrenching drama when she suffered a brain injury after a skiing accident at a resort in Canada. Her husband of nearly 15 years, Liam Neeson, left the set of Chloe, a drama he was filming in Toronto, to be with her. Over the next 24 hours, conflicting reports about Richardson’s condition spread across the Internet, sowing confusion, disbelief, and sadness.
According to several accounts, Richardson’s fall — which occurred on a beginners’ trail during a private lesson at the Mont Tremblant resort — did not appear serious at first. “She did not show any visible sign of injury,” the resort said in a statement to the Associated Press. After about an hour, however, Richardson began to complain of a headache and ended up at a hospital in Montreal.
The full story at Entertainment Weekly.
This is truly sad and my thoughts go out to Liam Neeson & his sons.
Very unhappy about this…. my sympathies to her family and her friends. She’ll be missed so much.
Our condolences to her family, she was truly an outstanding human being, as well as a talented actress.
A lovely person and very good at her job.
It’s such a shame that she (or anyone else) should die at such an early age.
I led quite a rough-and-tumble life as a kid in the 60′s through the 80′s and as an adult working in an inherently dangerous business (woodworking) most injuries were regarded as incidental as long as bone or major organs weren’t involved–stitches or any professional examination or observation of a severe blow were optional (in part because such attention was very expensive).
I’m very surprised that Natasha Richardson, that anyone, could be killed from tumbling over on the gentle grade of a bunny slope.
I’ve no doubt that this was a ‘freak’ accident.
Nonetheless, in light of this accident, any skier would be smart to wear a helmet in future, as cyclists do for example.
I learned to ski when I was 12 on my fourth ski-trip at age 16 I was skiing a black diamond run, at 11,000 feet in the French Alps. I wasn’t ery skilled, but I was young and limber and I was taught very well.
Up to 40 years old I skied mostly less challenging slopes in the North East US. I’d push myself but I didn’t have the reflexes of my youth and I ‘d usually fall down American black runs as much as I’d actually ski them, but it never occurred to me to wear a helmet.
US Blue runs I could still take at speed, certainly at 50 mph or better, due to experience…and when everything went pear-shaped I still knew how to tumble, through expert teaching and experience, and thus minimize potential injury.
I have a suspicion that skiing tuition in the US is probably quite crap and ass-backwards given my experience about how the US skiers I’ve experienced on the slopes behave ( learn to get going first, learn the consequences of a loss of control later–as a rule it’s the reverse in Europe), much like how driving is taught.
BUT thinking back on the wipe-outs I’ve experienced and witnessed over the years, skiers would be smart to wear helmets–bike helmets would be fine at least, and it would be no bad thing for ski resorts to insist upon them.
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This was a sad loss.
And, 5th, I don’t mean to be nitpick, but the accident occurred while taking a ski lesson in Canada. Not that I am blaming anyone there for this tragedy. It’s my understanding that paramedics were called and did show up at the resort, but that she declined their help believing she was fine.
If anyone witnessed what actually happened and saw her head hit the ground (it isn’t always easy to see happen, unless you can play it back in slow motion), they should have insisted she go to the hospital. I’ve had my share of concussions in my life, and I know that thinking clearly is not something you’re good at after your head takes a beating. But the witness’ line of vision may have been blocked, and they simply could not see whether her head hit the ground or not.
Wayne, unfortunately it is like winning the lottery. She had to hit her head just right, in just the right place to create the bleed. Like most people she wouldn’t want to make a fuss thinking it was no big deal, even when the headache started. She didn’t get help until it was too late. It was a tragedy. It probably wouldn’t have happened had someone been with her that could recognize the changes quickly enough and acted.
She was good in the Parent Trap and a few others… RIP Natasha