# Natasha Richardson dies following ski accident **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731 "2009-03-17T08:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/81 "2009-03-19T00:54:20Z")
so sad. her poor sons, to go from a day of fun on the slopes to this. life is just too short. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/82 "2009-03-19T00:54:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I must admit brain injuries from falls are interesting things: a person can be slammed into a wall after a fall down a flight of stairs or hit their head hard on a windshield in a car accident and emerge with no serious damage, then a seemingly innocuous accident can do them in. I hit my head on a fall off of a bike (no helmet)-impacted the front left part of my skull. Some bystanders made me wait for the ambulance, even tho I just saw some funny lights upon impact, was dizzy for a few seconds, then felt fine. Went to the ER, got a bad headache and nausea, but they eventually gave me a clean bill of health and I went home after 6 hours with no further ill effects. Yes I bought a helmet the next day… ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/83 "2009-03-19T01:09:04Z")
Damn! I saw her three times in CABARET and she was the defining Sally after Liza. What a talent and bright future just taken away so pointlessly. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/84 "2009-03-19T01:15:54Z")
Very sad ☹ I enjoyed her work a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/85 "2009-03-19T01:17:52Z")
Not to detract from the tragedy at hand, but when I was about 21 years old I took a horrible fall down some concrete steps. I was a college student, and yes, I was pissed to the gills. I don’t remember the fall, but am to this day convinced that I was pushed by a member of the party in which I was attending. After a few days I started to have flashbacks to the incident and am sure it was a “friend” giving me a “playful” shove. Anyway, I fractured my skull and didn’t remember anything. I woke up in hospital hours later and was disoriented, belligerent, and demanded to go home, since I had to work the next morning, coincidentally at the only other hospital in town. After many arguments they transported me to the other hospital – at my demand – so I could at least face my boss and tell him what happened. I woke up the next morning and puked all over the intensive care floor. I spent three days in ICU under constant observation. I went home and swallowed prescription pain medication for three weeks. My God I feel fortunate now after realizing over the years how fragile the human brain can be. I was very, very fortunate but at the time did not realize the extensiveness of my head injury. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/86 "2009-03-19T01:29:31Z")
[Damn. Just…damn.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090318/obit-natasha-richardson/) > [@](#): > > Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson’s husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death in a written statement. > > _“Liam Neeson, his sons (Micheal and Daniel), and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time._ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/87 "2009-03-19T01:34:18Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Damn! I saw her three times in CABARET and she was the defining Sally after Liza. What a talent and bright future just taken away so pointlessly. I’ve only seen the video of her Sally, but I’ve listened to the music 8 million times and came to see her as _the_ Sally. Natasha Richardson actually had a beautiful singing voice, but she actually took it down several notches talentwise to portray a mediocre singer in a third rate Berlin drag bar; a lot of entertainers probably wouldn’t have the confidence to do that. [Natasha performing the title number from CABARET](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_gkbT4CeFU&feature=PlayList&p=74EBDD2965551A90&index=7). (Audio only unfortunately; there used to be [bootlegged] video but it’s been removed.) ---
**Author:** ![phess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@phess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phess)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/88 "2009-03-19T01:34:58Z")
I have been skiing for years and the thought of falling (and not hitting an immovable object) and dying never occurred to me! If you fell, and your skis fell off, we called that a “yard sale”, and toasted you at the lodge. I was always more afraid of getting hit by another out of control skier and getting injured than I was of simply falling. Sonny Bono hitting a tree and dying I could comprehend, but this death just doesn’t make sense ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/89 "2009-03-19T01:49:18Z")
Btw, I asked that the Subject Line be changed, though that does make the OP confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/90 "2009-03-19T02:13:24Z")
Goddamnit. I always liked her. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/91 "2009-03-19T03:40:46Z")
I loved her in _Nell_…this is just awful. Far too young. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/92 "2009-03-19T04:22:13Z")
Looking closer at her IMDB page, I was reminded of one of the last movies I saw her in, a beautiful film called [White Countess](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0384686/)… > [@](#): > > Set in 1930s Shanghai, where a blind American diplomat develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee who works odd – and sometimes illicit – jobs to support members of her dead husband’s aristocratic family. She’s the Russian refugee, Ralph Feinnes is the blind American diplomat, and her family members are played by her mother Vanessa Redgrave and her aunt Lynn Redgrave. Ah, if only Liam could have played the diplomat. It was the last Merchant/Ivory film (produced by Ismail Merchant, who died soon after, directed by James Ivory), and written by Kazuo Ishiguro, who wrote the screenplay for The Saddest Music In The World, and the book The Remains of the Day. While not a great movie, it was certainly gorgeous and an interesting story, and Natasha was wonderful in it. ([the trailer](http://us.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3170631961/)) I also just remembered the last movie I saw her in, [Evening](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0765447/), with Meryl Streep, Toni Collette, Claire Danes and, her mother (in real life and in the movie) Vanessa Redgrave. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/93 "2009-03-19T12:47:01Z")
She was excellent in Caberet. So good Forbidden Broadway spoofed her. It is just sad that someone so young, in a good marriage and a good career, no problems with anyone, can just die that quickly. Life is so fragile. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/94 "2009-03-19T14:30:35Z")
Natasha Richardson won her Tony for Caberet, with lyrics by [John Kander](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kander). In one of life’s little ha-ha’s, she died on Kander’s 82nd Birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/95 "2009-03-19T15:05:55Z")
Very sad to hear this. She seemed a very lovely and generous person. I remember seeing her on a recent Top Chef and she was so classy. I really like Liam Neeson and I think I am more sad for him and his children. She and Liam seemed to be so great together. It upsets me that I know they won’t get the privacy they have requested during this time. I was touched by this quote from one of the articles about her: > [@](#): > > In July 2000, Neeson broke his pelvis in a motorcycle accident near his family home in New York but made a full recovery. He subsequently described his wife as an “angel” and a pillar of strength during his recovery. > > Richardson told London’s Evening Standard that caring for her convalescing husband “reinforced what I already knew: that you have to really appreciate life and what you have, because things can change.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/96 "2009-03-19T19:04:01Z")
Some trivia I didn’t know about Vanessa Redgrave is that she recently married Franco Nero. I knew she had a son with him (Carlo, now 40), but they never married and split up soon after their son’s birth. Apparently 30+ years later they rekindled their romance. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/97 "2009-03-20T01:41:25Z")
[Autopsy details released.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/19/natasha-richardson-mourne_n_176806.html) > [@](#): > > Actress Natasha Richardson died from bleeding in her skull caused by the fall she took on a ski slope, an autopsy found Thursday. The medical examiner ruled her death an accident, and doctors said she might have survived had she received immediate treatment. > > **Richardson suffered from an epidural hematoma, which causes bleeding between the skull and the brain’s covering** , said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner’s office. > > … According to that link, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights tonight at 8pm eastern in tribute to her. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/98 "2009-03-20T03:31:11Z")
I wonder if MRIs are going to become more common cautionary measures after even seemingly minor accidents. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/99 "2009-03-20T16:22:08Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#): > > I wonder if MRIs are going to become more common cautionary measures after even seemingly minor accidents. That would quickly become inordinately expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731/100 "2009-03-20T17:07:37Z")
Since when has that ever stopped something becoming standard in US medicine? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natasha-richardson-dies-following-ski-accident/489731.md?page=6)