Natasha Richardson Dies

Natasha Richardson was a gifted and precious to acting royalty whose career highlights included the film Patty Hearst and a Tony-winning performance in a stage revival of Cabaret. She died today at age 45 after suffering a head injury from a skiing accident. Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson's husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death in a written statement. The statement did not give details on the cause of death for Richardson, who suffered a head injury when she fell on a beginner's trail during a private ski lesson at the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. She was hospitalized Tuesday in Montreal and later flown to a hospital in New York. Family members had been seen coming and going from the New York hospital where Richardson was taken. It was a horrifying loss for her family, friends and for the film and theater communities and her many fans and for both her native and adoptive countries. Richardson was a proper Londoner who came to love the noise of New York. If she never quite attained the acting heights of her Academy Award-winning mother, she still had enjoyed a long and worthy career. Like other family members, she divided her time between stage and screen. On Broadway, she won a Tony for her performance as Sally Bowles in a 1998 revival of Cabaret.