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From scandal to tragedy, the life and troubled times of Natasha's family
Anna Davis17.03.09
Vanessa Redgrave, 72, is Natasha Richardson's mother. She is one of the most respected actresses of her generation and won an Oscar for her role in the 1978 film Julia, as well as four Evening Standard awards for best actress.
She is known for political activism, having campaigned against the Vietnam war, for nuclear disarmament and for aid to Bosnian Muslims. She ran for Parliament for the Workers' Revolutionary Party.
Members of the Jewish Defense League burned effigies of her because of her support for the Palestinian cause, and her Oscar acceptance speech for Julia was booed. With brother Corin she founded the Peace And Progress Party to campaign for human rights. In 2007 it emerged that she had paid £40,000 bail for former Guantanamo Bay detainee Jamil el-Banna. She divorced her first husband Tony Richardson in 1991 and is now married to Italian actor Franco Nero. She has another daughter, Joely.
Corin Redgrave, 69, Natasha's uncle, is a lifelong political activist, like his sister Vanessa. He was a Workers' Revolutionary Party member and is now a defender of the interests of the Romani people.
He has been undergoing treatment for cancer and in 2005 suffered a heart attack during a speech about the future of a controversial travellers' site in Billericay, Essex. Police at the theatre in Basildon had to carry out emergency resuscitation after the actor stopped breathing. He has appeared in films including A Man For All Seasons and Four Weddings And A Funeral.
He is married to his second wife, actress Kika Markham, and has five children.
Lynn Redgrave, 66, Natasha's aunt, has spoken publicly about her battle with bulimia and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. Her life fell apart in 1998 when she learnt that her husband had fathered a child with their daughter-in-law. The mother of three and star of films including Georgy Girl and Shine said that finding out the news was like "open-heart surgery without anaesthetic".
In 1998 her husband John Clark admitted an affair with his assistant Nicolette Hannah, who married the couple's son Ben when pregnant with Clark's son Zachary. Ms Redgrave believed the boy was her grandson. She immediately divorced Clark after 33 years of marriage.
Joely Richardson, 44, is Natasha's sister and the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and her first husband Tony Richardson.
She appeared as an extra at the age of three in the 1968 version of The Charge Of The Light Brigade directed by her father, and is well known for her role in the TV drama Nip/Tuck.
She was married to film producer Tim Bevan from 1992 to 2001 and the couple have a daughter, Daisy, born in 1992.
Reader views (3)
And don't forget that Natasha has a half-brother, Carlo, through her mother's relationship with Franco Nero.
- Joseph, Dallas, TX
My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Richardson/Redgrave family, especially Natasha...who I really really hope will be okay......
- Na, canada
for the record - poor Natasha's mother Vanessa, did not enrage people because of her 'support for the palestinian cause' which sounds rather benign, it was because of her use of expressions like 'zionist hoodlums' instead of Israeli citizens and her uncompromising and often extreme views.
Wishing Natasha my best for a full recovery
- Gg, london
