New York - Actress Natasha Richardson was buried Sunday at a
small funeral service of family and friends, after her death mid-week
from a brain injury after the 45-year-old fell on a learner's ski
slope in Canada.
Her husband and actor Liam Neeson, 56, was one of the bearers who
carried her casket into a church in Millbrook, New York, the internet
news service E!Online reported.
The British film and stage actress died Wednesday in a New York
hospital from head injuries during her fall on Monday.
Richardson lived with Neeson and sons Micheal Richard Antonio, 13,
and Daniel Jack, 12, in a country house in Millbrook. She was to be
buried in a local cemetary near her grandmother. She belonged to the
local Catholic church in Millbrook.
Richardson's mother, actress Vanessa Redgrave, and her sister,
actress Joely Richardson, attended the funeral, as did close friends
who included actresses Uma Thurman, Laura Linney and Holly Hunter and
actor Ralph Fiennes.
On Friday, friends and family attended a traditional Irish wake
for in New York.
On Thursday night all theatres on Broadway dimmed their lights in
memory of the 45-year-old actress who won a Tony Award for her
portrayal of Sally Bowles in the musical, Cabaret.
The New York Times reported Friday that Richardson
did not get medical help till approximately four hours after the
fall, rather than the one hour originally stated in the Canadian
resort's initial account of the incident. The discrepancy could have
a strong impact on investigations of culpability in Richardson's
death.
According to the accounts so far, Richardson fell during a private
skiing lesson on a beginners' slope in the Canadian resort of Mont
Tremblant. She is said to have declined medical treatment before
being rushed to hospital after complaining of a headache.
However, she rapidly descended into critical condition, and
doctors were unable to save her. An autopsy conducted on Thursday
said she had died from internal bleeding in the skull caused by a
blunt impact to the head.
Richardson was born into a theatrical family on May 11, 1963, in
London. Her father, Tony Richardson, was a director who won an Oscar
for Tom Jones, while her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, won the
supporting-actress Academy Award for 1977's Julia.
She made her own impact on the film world in the Ken Russell movie
Gothic in 1986. Richardson also starred in the 1988 movie Patty
Hearst, The Handmaid's Tale in 1990 and Nell in 1994, when she
appeared with Neeson, whom she married later that year. Later films
included the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap and Wild Child in 2008.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story