Natasha Richardson’s name basically evokes a specific kind of Hollywood elegance. You probably know her as the chic, soulful mother from The Parent Trap, or maybe you’ve seen her in the gritty 1990 film The Handmaid’s Tale. But when people ask who is Natasha Richardson married to, they’re usually looking for the story of one of the most enduring, albeit tragic, romances in the industry. Honestly, it’s a story that starts with a bit of a scandal and ends with a grief so profound that her husband still talks to her at her grave today.
The Man Behind the Legend: Liam Neeson
For the vast majority of her public life, Natasha Richardson was married to Liam Neeson. They were a total powerhouse couple. You’ve seen Neeson in everything from Schindler’s List to Taken, but before he was an action icon, he was a stage actor who met Richardson in 1993.
They were starring together in a Broadway revival of Anna Christie. The chemistry? Absolutely explosive. Neeson has since described their time on stage as a "wonderful kind of dance." It wasn't just acting. They were falling in love in real-time under the stage lights, which sounds like something out of a movie script, but it was their actual reality.
The First Marriage Nobody Talks About
Before the world knew her as Mrs. Neeson, Richardson was actually married to someone else. It's one of those facts that often gets glossed over in the retrospective montages.
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- Robert Fox: He’s a well-known British producer.
- The Timeline: They met in 1985 while working on The Seagull.
- The Marriage: They tied the knot in 1990.
- The Breakup: The marriage lasted only two years, ending in 1992.
The timing was, as Richardson herself later admitted, "bad." She was still technically married to Fox when she met Neeson. Falling for a new man while your first marriage is crumbling in the public eye isn't easy. She once told the New York Daily News that it was "kind of bad timing" but she simply fell very much in love. It happens.
A 15-Year Love Story in Millbrook
Neeson and Richardson didn't wait long after her divorce was finalized. They got married on July 3, 1994, at the home they shared in Millbrook, New York. They stayed married for 15 years, right up until her sudden and devastating death in 2009.
They weren't just a red-carpet couple. They built a life. They had two sons together, Micheál and Daniel, born in 1995 and 1996. While Neeson’s career was exploding with roles like Oskar Schindler, Richardson was the glue of the family. She even became a naturalized U.S. citizen during their marriage.
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Life After the Tragedy
The 2009 skiing accident at Mont Tremblant is a moment many people remember vividly. It was a "seemingly commonplace tumble," as some reports put it. Richardson initially felt fine, even calling Liam—who was filming in Toronto—to say she’d "taken a tumble in the snow."
We know how it ended. A traumatic brain injury. Brain-dead. Neeson had to make the impossible choice to fulfill a pact they’d made: if either of them ended up in a vegetative state, they’d "pull the plug."
What’s Happening Now?
It’s been over 15 years since she passed, but in the world of celebrity news, people still associate them as a pair. Neeson hasn't remarried. He’s 73 now and recently made headlines for his friendship with Pamela Anderson, but for a long time, he steered clear of any public romances.
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He still lives near that home in Millbrook. He still visits her grave, which is just a mile and a half down the road. He says he speaks to her every day. It’s a bit heartbreaking, but also kind of beautiful in a "love-transcends-death" sort of way.
Key takeaways if you’re following this story:
- Recognition of Risk: The "talk and die" syndrome associated with her injury is why people are so much more cautious about head bumps today. If you hit your head, get it checked. Seriously.
- Family Resilience: Her sons are now adults. Micheál has even taken her last name, Richardson, as a tribute to her.
- Legacy of Work: If you want to see the chemistry that started it all, look for clips of their 1993 Anna Christie performance or the 1994 film Nell.
If you're looking to dive deeper into her filmography or the history of the Redgrave acting dynasty she belonged to, you should check out the work of her mother, Vanessa Redgrave. Seeing the lineage of talent makes it clear why Natasha was such a force on both stage and screen.