Tributes have poured in for actor Natasha Richardson, who died in hospital last night after suffering a serious head injury in a fall at a Canadian ski resort.
Actors and directors have hailed the 45-year-old star as a "wonderful performer" who handled the pressure of being in one of Britain's great theatrical dynasties and made her own career on stage and in film.
Richardson's husband, Irish actor Liam Neeson, and her family were "shocked and devastated" by her death which came after she fell while taking a supervised skiing lesson on a beginners' run at the luxury Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec on Monday. The actor showed no visible sign of injury after the accident but was brought to the bottom of the slope by a ski patrol and told she should see a doctor.
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."
Neeson (56) Richardson's mother, Oscar-winning actor Vanessa Redgrave (72) and two sons, Michael (13) and Daniel (12) visited her after she was flown from Canada to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where she died last night.
Yves Coderre, director of operations at the emergency services company which sent the medics to Mont Tremblant on Monday, told Canada's
Globeand
Mailnewspaper that ski patrollers requested an ambulance after Richardson had fallen but that paramedics were turned away.
Mr Coderre said medical workers responded but were told they were not needed when they arrived. Another ambulance was later called to Richardson's hotel and she was then rushed to hospital.
Neeson flew from the set of his new film in Toronto to be with his wife as soon as he heard news of the accident. She was then flown from Canada to New York, where she and her family live, for further treatment, but her death was announced shortly before midnight.
SDLP MLA for North Antrim Declan O’Loan expressed his sympathy to Neeson and his family. “I know that the people of Ballymena will join with me in this expression of sympathy. There is immense pride here in the achievements of Liam Neeson as an internationally known actor and one of great distinction. His large family circle here in Ballymena and the surrounding area are very well known and highly respected. We are all thinking of them at this time of sadness.”
Actress Judi Dench spoke of Richardson's "luminous" quality. "It's just been so shocking, really shocking and I hope that everybody in the family, quietly, can somehow pick up the pieces," Dench told BBC television.
On her blog, actress Jane Fonda recalled meeting Richardson as a girl on the set of
Julia,the 1977 film for which Redgrave won her Academy Award. "She was a little girl but already beautiful and graceful," Fonda wrote. "It didn't surprise me that she became such a talented actor ... It is hard to even imagine what it must be like for her family. My heart is heavy."
Lindsay Lohan, who co-starred with Richardson in
The Parent Trap, said: "She was a wonderful woman and actress and treated me like I was her own. My heart goes out to her family. This is a tragic loss."
Sam Mendes, in whose 1998 Broadway production of
CabaretRichardson starred as Sally Bowles, winning a Tony award, 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 one of a kind, a magnificent actress."
Film maker Ken Russell (81), who directed Richardson in her 1986 movie debut,
Gothic, said she had a "blend of tenderness and fire".
Richardson, whose father director Tony died of Aids-related causes in 1991, was also on the board of the US-based charity amfAR, The Foundation for Aids Research. A spokeswoman for the charity said: "Our hearts go out to her family. This is a catastrophic loss for them, and it is a terrible loss for amfAR and the fight against Aids."
Born in May 1963, Richardson was also the granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, the sister of actress Joely Richardson, and the niece of Lynn Redgrave. She was educated at St Paul's Girls School in London and trained at the city's Central School of Speech and Drama.
She married
Schindler's Liststar Neeson in 1994 after the pair met on the set of the film
Nell. Her extensive experience on stage included a number of Shakespearean roles including Ophelia in
Hamletand Helena in
A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In 1986 she won the London Drama Critics' most promising newcomer award for her performance as Nina in
The Seagullalongside her mother. She also won a Tony award for best actress in a musical for her performance as Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes' production of
Cabareton Broadway in 1998.
Agencies