Actress Vanessa Redgrave shared a rare comment on the loss of her daughter Natasha Richardson, who died in 2009 at the age of 45.
In a statement shared by her younger daughter, Joely Richardson, via Instagram on Sunday, May 11 — what would’ve been Natasha’s 62nd birthday — Redgrave, 88, said her death is still hard to process.
“Today would have been my sister Tasha’s birthday. I asked my Ma if she’d like to say anything. This is what she dictated to me,” Joely, 60, wrote ahead of her mother’s comment.
“‘We were in Greece. We sat drinking our coffees in Constitution Square. Tony [Richardson] (my late father) said if the baby was a boy we should call him Tom. I said if she was a girl I would like her to be called Natasha after Tolstoy‘s War and Peace. Our Natasha, as yes she was a girl, came swimming out of my womb ready for anything. I can’t believe that she isn’t swimming somewhere now, in one of the pools or seas we explored,’” Vanessa shared.
She added: “‘I will never be reconciled to her dying in the snow, and I’m sure that every mother who has lost a child will have that pain always.’”
Natasha, who was married to fellow actor Liam Neeson from 1994 until her death, sustained a head injury after falling during a ski lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Montreal on March 16, 2009. After experiencing a severe headache, she died two days later of an epidural hematoma — a type of brain bleed — at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Natasha and Neeson, now 72, shared two sons, Micheál, 29, and Daniel, 28.
“Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” a statement at the time of her death read. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”
Natasha was known for films like 1998’s The Parent Trap and 2005’s The White Countess, as well as her theater roles. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret. At the time of her death, Natasha was reportedly preparing to star alongside Redgrave in a Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim‘s A Little Night Music.
In a 2024 interview with People, Neeson said his focus following his wife’s death was on their sons’ well-being.
“It was a horrible thing to happen,” he said, noting that his mother-in-law Redgrave and sister-in-law Joely helped them through the tragedy.
“Everybody just pulled together,” he shared. “Vanessa and Joely were extraordinary. We were fortunate in lots of ways.”
Joely has shared comments about Natasha via Instagram over the years, but she opened up in a recent interview about how it took her a while to process “the shock and trauma and horror” of her sister’s “unimaginable” death as she took care of Natasha’s family.
The Nip/Tuck alum told The Times in February 2024: “It was a very strange transition that took years to happen. I wasn’t doing it consciously. I was just getting on with it as anyone does when someone dies and the family absolutely goes into crisis. It wasn’t just about children being left without a mother. It was about the ramifications for me. I hadn’t lived a day of my life without Tash. I didn’t know the world without her.”
