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Natasha Richardson fondly remembered – Metro US

Natasha Richardson fondly remembered

Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson died of a brain injury after falling on a ski slope, an autopsy found Thursday.

The cause of death was epidural hematoma (bleeding between the skull and the brain’s covering), said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office. Richardson was not wearing a helmet and the death was ruled an accident.

An epidural hematoma is often caused by a skull fracture. The bleeding causes a blood clot that puts pressure on the brain. That pressure can force the brain downward to press on the brain stem that controls breathing and other vital functions, causing coma or death. Frequently, surgeons cut off part of the skull to give the brain room to swell.

Richardson, 45, died Wednesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan after falling at the Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec on Monday. Descended from one of Britain’s greatest acting dynasties, including her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson was known for her work in such plays as Cabaret (for which she won a Tony) and Anna Christie and in the films Patty Hearst and The Handmaid’s Tale.

The mourning continued Thursday as Broadway theatres intended to dim their lights in honour of Richardson and colleagues offered tributes. Fitting for an actress of Hollywood beauty and classical training, praise came from both tabloid celebrities — The Parent Trap co-star Lindsay Lohan — and artists of the theatre, like Sam Mendes, who directed the 1998 revival of the Broadway musical Cabaret.
“It defies belief that this gifted, brave, tenacious, wonderful woman is gone,” said Mendes, also known as the director of the Academy Award-winning American Beauty.

Theatre marquees will be dimmed for one minute at 8 p.m., the traditional starting time for evening performances of Broadway shows.

Richardson gave several memorable stage performances, more than living up to some of the theatre’s most famous roles: Sally Bowles of Cabaret, Blanche DuBois of A Streetcar Named Desire and the title character of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie, a 1993 revival in which she co-starred with future husband Liam Neeson. They have two sons: Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12.