NY DailyNews- Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson, dead after suffering brain injury

Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson, dead after suffering brain injury while skiing in Montreal

By George Rush, Kerry Burke and Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Updated Wednesday, March 18th 2009, 7:07 PM
Corrigan/Getty

Natasha Richardson and husband Liam Neeson in New York last May.
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Tony-Award winning actress Natasha Richardson died at a Manhattan hospital Wednesday night after her “shocked and devastated family” took her off life support.

The Tony award-winning actress’ heartbroken family gathered at her bedside in a private room at Lenox Hill Hospital to say farewell – some 48 hours after the actress fell while skiing in Canada.

With Richardson when she was taken off the machines was her husband, actor Liam Neeson, and their sons, Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12.

A family spokesman said: “Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

Richardson’s mother, legendary actress Vanessa Redgrave, her sister, actress Joely Richardson, were also there, as was Richardson’s ex-husband, producer Robert Fox.

Screen legends like Lauren Bacall came by to pay respects earlier in the day.

Felled by a freak skiing accident, Richardson had been brain dead and on life support for days, sources told the Daily News.

Gossip maven and family friend Liz Smith first reported the family’s decision on the Web site Wowowow.com.

“This is not unexpected,” Smith wrote. “Insiders felt Wednesday, on learning they were flying Natasha in to Lenox Hill, that this meant her condition was hopeless and they were just finding a place to be together with her and to say goodbye.”

Tributes to her began to pour in almost immediately.

“For all her talent and beauty, she was egoless,” said Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein.

“She was gracious, kind, funny, and a tireless crusader for those living with HIV and AIDs,” said Broadway star Cheyenne Jackson.

“A class act, and a beautiful woman.”

A member of one of Britain’s great acting families, Richardson was the daughter of Oscar-winning director Tony Richardson.

Richardson won her Tony in 1998 for playing Sally Bowles in “Cabaret.”

She was best known for her roles in films like “The Parent Trap,” “Nell,” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Richardson, a novice skier, was not wearing a helmet when she wiped out on a bunny hill Monday at a Canadian skiing resort.

Though she appeared to be fine at first, the instructor and Ski Patrol at the Mont Tremblant resort took her by sled to the bottom of the hill and accompanied to her hotel.

Richardson repeatedly refused to see a doctor, witnesses said.

“She said she was fine,” a resort spokeswoman, Catherine Lacasse, said.

“She had a headache, she had no signs of impact, no bleeding.”

An hour later, Richardson had a pounding headache and “agreed to call an ambulance,” Lacasse said.

Richardson was taken to a Montreal hospital and then flown to New York as the Internet swarmed with uncorroborated reports that she was at death’s door.

Experts said she exhibited the classic symptoms of a hematoma, or a blood clot that forms upon impact and starts growing between the brain and the skull.

csiemaszko@nydailynews.com

With Joe Dziemianowicz, Mike Jaccarino and Laura Schreffler