Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave
Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0 · source
Name	Vanessa Redgrave
Caption	Redgrave in 2015
Birth date	30 January 1937
Birth place	Blackheath, London, England
Occupation	Actress, activist
Years active	1958–present
Spouse	Tony Richardson (1962–1967), Franco Nero (2006–present)
Children	Natasha Richardson, Joely Richardson, Carlo Gabriel Nero
Parents	Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson
Relatives	Lynn Redgrave (sister), Corin Redgrave (brother)

Vanessa Redgrave is an English actress and political activist, renowned as one of the most distinguished performers of her generation. A member of the celebrated Redgrave family, she has received widespread critical acclaim across theatre, film, and television for over six decades. Her career is marked by a formidable intensity and a parallel, outspoken commitment to far-left political causes, making her a consistently prominent and sometimes controversial public figure.

Early life and family

Born in Blackheath, London, she is the daughter of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and the elder sister of fellow actors Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave. She was educated at the Central School of Speech and Drama and began her professional stage career in the late 1950s with the Frinton Repertory Company. Her upbringing within a dominant theatrical dynasty profoundly shaped her artistic path, with early influences including the works of William Shakespeare and the social realist plays prevalent in post-war British theatre.

Career

Her breakthrough came in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Major film roles followed, including her Oscar-nominated performance in Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) and her iconic portrayal of Guinevere in the film adaptation of *Camelot* (1967). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in *Julia* (1977) and received further nominations for films like *The Bostonians* (1984) and *Howards End* (1992). Her later celebrated work includes performances in *Mrs. Dalloway* (1997), *Atonement* (2007), and the television miniseries *The Fever* (2004).

Activism and political involvement

A committed socialist and activist, her political involvements have often generated significant controversy. She was a prominent supporter of the Workers' Revolutionary Party in the 1970s and 1980s and has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights, serving as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Her 1978 Oscar acceptance speech, which criticized "Zionist hoodlums," drew widespread condemnation. She has also campaigned against the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons via the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and was a notable critic of the Iraq War.

Personal life

She was married to director Tony Richardson from 1962 until their divorce in 1967; they had two daughters, actresses Natasha Richardson and Joely Richardson. She began a long-term relationship with actor Franco Nero after meeting on the set of *Camelot*; they had a son, Carlo Gabriel Nero, and later married in 2006. The family has endured tragedy, notably the death of her daughter Natasha in 2009 following a skiing accident in Montreal.

Filmography and stage work

Her extensive filmography includes over 80 feature films, ranging from Blowup (1966) and *The Devils* (1971) to *Mission: Impossible* (1996) and *Coriolanus* (2011). On stage, her legendary performances encompass works by Chekhov, Ibsen, and Tennessee Williams, including a Tony Award-winning turn in the Broadway revival of *Long Day's Journey into Night* (2003). She has also performed with the National Theatre and the Almeida Theatre.

Awards and recognition

Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and the BAFTA Fellowship. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1967 and has received honorary degrees from institutions including the University of Cambridge and the University of London. In 1999, she was ranked among the greatest female film stars of the 20th century by the American Film Institute.

Category:English film actresses Category:English stage actresses Category:Academy Award winners