Natasha Richardson Movies
The daughter of British actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, Natasha Richardson was named for the heroine in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Richardson made her film bow at age four, playing one of her own mother's bridesmaids in Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), which was directed by her father. Trained at the Central School for Speech and Drama, Richardson did her first professional stage work at the Leeds Playhouse in 1983 then went on to specialize in Shakespeare (like virtually everyone else of Redgrave lineage) at the Old Vic. In the company of her mother Vanessa and her Aunt Lynn, Richardson made an excellent impression in a 1985 staging of Chekhov's The Three Sisters; the following year, she won the London Theatre Critics Award for Most Promising Newcomer. The honor was a trifle belated, as Richardson had been acting on stage for three years and costarring in films since 1984's Every Picture Tells a Story. Her film roles have ranged from passive to aggressive but have always been distinctive. Among Richardson's most memorable film assignments have been A Month in the Country (1987), The Handmaid's Tale (1990), Widows Peak (1994), and the successful 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. She has done her most celebrated work on the stage, appearing in a 1993 performance in a PBS restaging of Suddenly Last Summer; an acclaimed Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie that same year (in which she starred opposite then-lover and eventual husband Liam Neeson); an incredibly popular 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret, in which she gave a Tony-winning portrayal of Sally Bowles; and the 1999 Broadway production of Patrick Marber's Closer, in which she starred alongside Rupert Graves, Anna Friel, and Ciaran Hinds. Richardson died in a skiing accident in 2009. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1985
"The Cooper Beeches" is an episode of the television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an excellent adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories, produced in Britain for Granada TV. In this episode, directed by Paul Annett, Jeremy Brett portrays the famed detective, aided by his companion Dr. Watson as the two help a governess, Violet Hunter (Natasha Richardson), who is employed by a strange couple -- Jephro Rucastle (Joss Ackland) and his wife (Lottie Ward). This episode, written by Bill Craig, re-creates the adventures of Conan Doyle's Victorian detective with impeccable faithfulness to the original story first published in the Strand Magazine during the late 19th century. This series was followed by a sequel, as well as several TV movie adaptations. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Brett, David Burke, (more)
- 1984
The British Every Picture Tells a Story is a tribute by James Scott to his father and grandfather. Alex Norton plays the eldest Scott, who after World War I service moves his family to Northern Ireland. Securing work as a painter, Scott invites his son to help him on the job. The boy shows genuine talent as an artist, and his father encourages him to develop his skill. When the elder Scott is accidentally killed, the Irish villagers finance the boy's art school education. The younger Scott becomes a renowned artist -- and eventually, the father of the director of Every Picture Tells a Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Logan, Alex Norton, (more)
- 1983
The seven-hour TV miniseries Ellis Island was adapted from a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart. Per its title, the film is a mosaic of subplots involving several European immigrants who passed through New York's Ellis Island before taking up residence in the Big Apple. Most of the characters are based on real people, notably the Irving Berlin-like musician played by Peter Riegert. Co-stars Faye Dunaway, Richard Burton (in his last film role) and Ann Jillian were honored with Emmy nominations. Ironically, this essentially American saga was largely filmed in London. Originally telecast November 11, 13, and 14, 1984, Ellis Island was re-edited and re-telecast in the summer of 1986, just in time for the Statue of Liberty Centennial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
