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Lynn Redgrave

Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress.

A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By the mid-1960s she had appeared in several films, including Tom Jones (1963), and Georgy Girl (1966) which won her a New York Film Critics Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
In 1967, she made her Broadway debut, and performed in several stage productions in New York while making frequent returns to London's West End. She performed with her sister Vanessa in Three Sisters in London, and in the title role in a television production of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in 1991. She made a return to films in the late 1990s in films such as Shine (1996) and Gods And Monsters (1998), for which she received another Academy Award nomination.

Redgrave was born in Marylebone, London, to actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Her sister is actress Vanessa Redgrave; her brother is the late actor and political activist Corin Redgrave. She is the aunt of actor Carlo Gabriel Nero and actresses Joely Richardson, Jemma Redgrave and the late Natasha Richardson.

After training in London's Central School of Speech and Drama, Redgrave made her professional debut in a 1962 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Court Theatre.[1] Following a tour of Billy Liar and repertory work in Dundee, she made her West End debut at the Haymarket, in N.C. Hunter's The Tulip Tree with Celia Johnson and John Clements.
She was invited to join The National Theatre for its inaugural season at the Old Vic, working with such directors as Laurence Olivier, Franco Zeffirelli, and Noel Coward in roles such as Rose in The Recruiting Officer, Barblin in Andorra, Jackie in Hay Fever, Kattrin in Mother Courage, Miss Prue in Love for Love, and Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing which kept her busy for the next three years.
During that time she appeared in films such as Tom Jones (1963), Girl with Green Eyes (1964), The Deadly Affair (1966) and the title role in Georgy Girl (also 1966). For the last of these roles she gained the New York Film Critics Award, the Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.
In 1967 she made her Broadway debut in Black Comedy with Michael Crawford and Geraldine Page. London appearances included Michael Frayn's The Two of Us with Richard Briers at the Garrick, David Hare's Slag at the Royal Court, and Born Yesterday, directed by Tom Stoppard at Greenwich in 1973.
In 1974, she returned to Broadway in My Fat Friend. There soon followed Knock Knock with Charles Durning, Mrs Warren's Profession (for a Tony nomination) with Ruth Gordon, and Saint Joan. In the 1985/86 season she appeared with Rex Harrison, Claudette Colbert, and Jeremy Brett in Aren't We All? and with Mary Tyler Moore in A. R. Gurney's Sweet Sue.
In 1983, she played Cleopatra in an American television version of Antony and Cleopatra opposite Timothy Dalton. She was in Misalliance in Chicago with Irene Worth, (earning the Sarah Siddons and Joseph Jefferson awards), Twelfth Night at the American Shakespeare Festival, California Suite, The King and I, Hellzapoppin', Les Dames du Jeudi, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and The Cherry Orchard. In 1988 she narrated a dramatised television documentary, Silent Mouse, which told the story of the creation of the Christmas carol Silent Night. In the early winter of 1991 she starred with Stewart Granger and Ricardo Montalban in a Hollywood production of Don Juan in Hell.
With her sister Vanessa as Olga, she returned to the London stage playing Masha in Three Sisters in 1991 at the Queen's Theatre, London, and later played the title role in a television production of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, again with her sister. Highlights of her early film career also include The National Health, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, The Happy Hooker and Getting It Right. In the United States she was seen on such television series as Teachers Only, House Calls, Centennial and Chicken Soup.
She also starred in BBC productions such as The Faint-Hearted Feminist, A Woman Alone, Death Of A Son, Calling the Shots and Fighting Back. She played Broadway again in Moon Over Buffalo (1996) with co-star Robert Goulet, and starred in the world premier of Tennessee Williams' The Notebook of Trigorin, based on Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. She won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Talking Heads.
Redgrave became well known in the United States after appearing in the television series House Calls, for which she received an Emmy nomination. She was fired from the show after she insisted on bringing her child to rehearsals so as to continue a breast-feeding schedule. A lawsuit ensued but was dismissed a few years after. Following that, she appeared in a long-running series of television commercials for H. J. Heinz Company, then the manufacturer of the weight loss foods for Weight Watchers, a Heinz subsidiary. Her signature line for the ads was "This Is Living". She wrote a book of her life experiences with the same title, which included a selection of Weight Watcher recipes. The autobiographical section later became the basis of her one-woman play Shakespeare for My Father.
In 1993 she was elected President of The Players, the famous theatrical club and historic bastion of American theatre history. In 1989 she appeared on Broadway in Love Letters with her husband John Clark, and thereafter they performed the play around the country, and on one occasion for the jury in the O. J. Simpson case. In 1993 she appeared on Broadway in the one-woman play Shakespeare for My Father, which Clark produced and directed. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
In 2005, Redgrave appeared at Quinnipiac University and Connecticut College in the play Sisters of the Garden, about the sisters Fanny and Rebekka Mendelssohn and Nadia and Lili Boulanger. She was also reported to be writing a one-woman play about her battle with breast cancer and her 2003 mastectomy, based on her book Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancer with photos by her daughter Annabel and text by Redgrave herself.
In September 2006, she appeared in Nightingale, the U.S. premiere of her new one-woman play based upon her maternal grandmother Beatrice, at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum. She also performed the play in May 2007 at Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2007, she appeared in an episode of Desperate Housewives as Dahlia Hainsworth.
She also appeared on an episode of ABC's Ugly Betty, and an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

On 2 April 1967, Lynn Redgrave married English actor John Clark. Together they had three children, airline pilot Benjamin Clark (born 1968), singer-songwriter Pema (originally Kelly) Clark (born 1970), and author and photographer Annabel Lucy Clark (born 1981). The marriage ended in 2000 after Clark revealed to Redgrave that he had fathered a child with her personal assistant, who later married (and subsequently divorced) their son Benjamin. The divorce proceedings were acrimonious and became front page news, with Clark alleging that Redgrave had also been unfaithful.
Redgrave was appointed OBE in 2001. She was a naturalised citizen of the United States.
She discussed her health problems associated with bulimia and breast cancer. She was diagnosed with the latter in December 2002, had a mastectomy in January 2003, and chemotherapy. She died from breast cancer in her Kent, Connecticut, home on 2 May 2010, aged 67. Her brother, actor Corin Redgrave, also a cancer patient, had died less than a month before, on 6 April, aged 70.
Redgrave's funeral was held on 8 May at First Congregational Church in Kent, Connecticut. She was buried at Saint Peter's Episcopal Cemetery in Lithgow, New York; her mother Rachel Kempson and niece Natasha Richardson are also buried there.

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News | What members say | Filmography

Lynn Redgrave - news / articles


  • Clark pays tribute to ex-wife Redgrave - 4 May 2010
    -Actor John Clark is leading the tributes to his ex-wife Lynn Redgrave, who lost her battle with cancer at the age of 67.- -The Georgy Girl star passed away at her New York home on Sunday (02May10), marking another blow to the Redgrave acting dynasty - her brother Cori

Lynn Redgrave - what members say


  • Gods And Monsters
  • Gods And Monsters review by from Oxford, England
    Rated - 5.0 stars Excellent movie 9 July 2004
    ...early lovers, his upbringing. He is attended by his faithful housekeeper Hanna (Lynn Redgrave) of 15 years, a devout religious person who 'looks the other way' in terms of W...   Read customer review
  • Anita And Me
  • Anita And Me review by A customer from Cardiff , Wales
    Rated - 4.0 stars A rich, funny and poignant journey of self-discovery 30 September 2005
    ...olourful cross-section of characters including busybody shopkeeper Mrs Ormerod (Lynn Redgrave), hippy vicar Uncle Alan (Mark Williams) and aspiring rock star Hairy Neddy (Ma...   Read customer review
  • White Countess
  • White Countess review by ChilliOne from Wallingford, Oxon
    Rated - 2.0 stars Period Piece 22 March 2009
    ...l that either). Co-Starring Richardson's real-life mother and aunt, Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, this film is top heavy with great British talent but it's just not convincing ...   Read customer review

Lynn Redgrave - filmography


  • White Countess on DVD (2005)
    Starring: Ralph Fiennes,  Natasha Richardson,  Vanessa Redgrave
    Director: James Ivory
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    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.
    3 stars out of 5 57% from 4,619 members
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  • Peter Pan on DVD (2003)
    Starring: Jason Isaacs,  Jeremy Sumpter,  Rachel Hurd Wood
    Director: P.J. Hogan
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Re-discover the timeless story of Peter Pan as you've never seen it before and be swept off your feet to a Neverland you'd never dreamt possible. Join the boy who wouldn't grow up and Wendy, the girl who is told she has to, in their adventure against Captain Hook and his pirate crew. Follow Tinker ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 63% from 10,934 members
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  • Peter Pan - Blu-ray (2003)
    Starring: Rachel Hurd Wood,  Jason Isaacs,  Jeremy Sumpter
    Director: P.J. Hogan
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Everyone knows Peter Pan as the boy who will never grow up. Writer/director P.J. Hogan's (MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING) live-action interpretation of the classic J.M. Barrie tale is surprisingly sentimental, imbuing Peter--played by the charming Jeremy Sumpter--with a sense of longing and a desire to ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 64% from 24 members
    Not available for rental
  • Anita And Me on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Max Beesley,  Sanjeev Bhaskar,  Kathy Burke
    Director: Metin Huseyin
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    ANITA & ME is a charming, comic look back at the 1970s based on the autobiographical novel by Meera Syal, who also stars in the film as her own aunt. Set in 1972, Meena is a twelve year old girl born to Indian parents whose life is turned upside down when she befriends an outrageous fourteen year ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 59% from 2,852 members
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  • Hansel And Gretel on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Taylor Momsen,  Jacob Smith,  Delta Burke
    Director: Gary J. Tunnicliffe
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Watch now: £2.49
    If you go down to the woods tonight be sure of the biggest surprise of your life! When Hansel and Gretel's wicked stepmother leads them into the dark forest, the children find themselves in an enchanted world of magical creatures and hideous monsters. But when they stumble upon a house made of ..read more »
    2.5 stars out of 5 49% from 138 members
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  • Spider on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Patrick McGrath,  Ralph Fiennes,  Miranda Richardson
    Director: David Cronenberg
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: £2.49
    Based on the novel by Patrick McGrath, David Cronenberg's psychological drama follows Dennis "Spider" Cleg (Ralph Fiennes), a mentally disturbed man who has just been released from an asylum. Upon taking up residence in a seedy London apartment building, the already introverted Spider begins to ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 57% from 4,149 members
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  • Anthony And Cleopatra on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Timothy Dalton,  Lynn Redgrave,  Nichelle Nichols
    Director: Bryan Foy
    Certificate: Certificate: Ex
    The great historical lovers come to life in this unusually lucid adaptation of Shakespeare's play. The English accents so prevalent in most Shakespearean productions are absent and the costumes and sets are based on the original designs from the Globe Theater productions of Shakespeare's day.
    2 stars out of 5 41% from 175 members
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  • My Sister's Keeper on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Kathy Bates,  Lynn Redgrave,  Elizabeth Perkins
    Director: Ron Lagomarsino
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Adapted from the novel by Margaret Moorman and based on a true story this is the tale of Christine who has spent most of her life in various mental health institutions. When Christine's mother dies the responsibility for her care falls to her sister Judy.
    3 stars out of 5 59% from 259 members
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  • My Kingdom on DVD (2001)
    Starring: Richard Harris,  Lynn Redgrave,  Emma Catherwood
    Director: Don Boyd
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    Bringing together two recent trends--British gangster movies and modern-dress Shakespeare--My Kingdom is King Lear in contemporary Liverpool. Richard Harris, who ought to be giving his real Lear about now, is fine in the early sections as the complacent gang boss who thinks he's above the street-..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 55% from 503 members
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  • Lion Of Oz on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Tim Curry,  Dom DeLuise,  Bobcat Goldthwait
    Director: Tim Deacon
    Certificate: Certificate: U
    A young circus Lion (voiced by Jason Priestley) travels via hot air balloon to the wondrous land of Oz. There, he is separated from his friend Oscar (Dom DeLuise) and runs into the Wicked Witch of the East (Lynn Redgrave), who forces Lion to bring her the legendary Flower of Oz. Along the way, Lion ..read more »
    2.5 stars out of 5 51% from 112 members
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  • The Next Best Thing on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Lynn Redgrave,  Stacy Edwards,  Benjamin Bratt
    Director: John Schlesinger
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    When best friends Abbie (Madonna - EVITA) and Robert (Everett - MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING)--who happens to be gay--engage in an unexpected tryst, they write it off as the result of clouded judgment from too many drinks. However, when Abbie discovers she's pregnant, the two decide to move in together ..read more »
    2.5 stars out of 5 51% from 1,584 member
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  • Deeply (1999)
    Starring: Brent Carver,  Kirsten Dunst,  Julia Brendler
    Director: Sherri Elwood
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    On Ironbound Island, just off the coast of Nova Scotia, native Fiona McKay (Alberta Watson, THE SWEET HEREAFTER) arrives from Europe with her teenage daughter Clair (Julia Brendler), hoping that the peace of the island will help the girl get over the death of her boyfriend. The girl finds comfort ..read more »
    2.5 stars out of 5 51% from 8 members
    Currently unavailable
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  • Gods And Monsters (1998)
    Starring: Ian McKellen,  Brendan Fraser,  Lynn Redgrave
    Director: Bill Condon
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Based on Christopher Bram's novel FATHER OF FRANKENSTEIN, Bill Condon's semi-fictional 1998 sleeper stars Sir Ian McKellen in a fantastic performance as director James Whale (FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, SHOW BOAT). It is 1957, and Whale is living in semi-seclusion in Southern California ..read more »
    3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 2,863 members
    Not currently released
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  • White Lies (1998)
    Starring: Sarah Polley,  Tanya Allen,  Jonathan Scarfe
    Director: Kari Skogland
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    How can a smart middle class girl suddenly turn into a devoted right wing debater? That's what happens with Catherine when she meets the charismatic leaders of the neo-nazi organization NIM.
    2.5 stars out of 5 46% from 8 members
    Currently unavailable
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  • Strike! (1998)
    Starring: Kirsten Dunst,  Gaby Hoffmann,  Lynn Redgrave
    Director: Sarah Kernochan
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    It's 1963, and the pupils at Miss Godard's School for Girls are dismayed when they find out they're merging with a boy's school. Imaginations run wild as the girls start a campaign against the motion.
    3 stars out of 5 58% from 46 members
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  • A Father's Betrayal on DVD (1997)
    Starring: Brian Dennehy,  Reed Diamond,  Alice Krige
    Director: Brian Dennehy
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Powerful lawyer Eddie Brannigan is delighted to have his son back in his life and the feelings are reciprocated. The younger Eddie's friend Rebecca, however, accuses Eddie Senior of date-rape and he could end up sending his own father to jail.
    3 stars out of 5 57% from 90 members
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  • Shine on DVD (1996)
    Starring: Geoffrey Rush,  Lynn Redgrave,  John Gielgud
    Director: Scott Hicks
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Inspired by the true story of Australian child prodigy David Helfgott (Rush), Shine examines his journey from a childhood dominated by an overbearing father to his nervous breakdown as a young adult. When David is accepted to a prestigious music school in London as a teen, he's only too happy to ..read more »
    3.5 stars out of 5 73% from 8,798 members
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  • Death Of A Son on DVD (1989)
    Starring: Lynn Redgrave,  Malcolm Storry,  Jay Simpson
    Director: Ross Devenish
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    In 1986 Pauline Williams, a Luton housewife became the first person in Britain ever to bring a successful private prosecution for manslaughter. The story began in 1982 when John Williams, Pauline and Ray’s 19 year old son, died from an overdose of the drug Palfium. In spite of the inquest jury’s ..read more »
    2.5 stars out of 5 47% from 11 members
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  • The Happy Hooker on DVD (1975)
    Starring: Lynn Redgrave,  Jean-Pierre Aumont,  Nicholas Pryor
    Director: Nicholas Sgarro
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    Having emigrated to New York and immediately got the kiss-off from her mother-besotted fiance, a Dutch lass takes a well-paid office job and starts liberally sampling the local male talent. After a while she decides to make her pleasure her business too, and as her reputation grows she graduates to ..read more »
    2 stars out of 5 38% from 42 members
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  • The National Health (1973)
    Starring: Lynn Redgrave,  Bob Hoskins,  Colin Blakely
    Director: Jack Gold
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Based on the play by Peter Nichols. Comedy satire about overworked doctors and nurses who are doing their best to cope in a depressing and poorly-equipped National Health hospital.
    2.5 stars out of 5 50% from 1 member
    Currently unavailable
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  • The Virgin Soldiers on DVD (1969)
    Starring: Lynn Redgrave,  Hywel Bennett,  Nigel Davenport
    Director: John Dexter
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Based on Leslie Thomas' bestseller, the film highlights the antics of a bunch of British National Servicemen in Malaysia who discover how inexperienced they are in both the battlefield and their attempts to 'get along' with the opposite sex.
    3 stars out of 5 59% from 226 members
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  • The Deadly Affair on DVD (1966)
    Starring: James Mason,  Simone Signoret,  Harry Andrews
    Director: Sidney Lumet
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    A Foreign Office man apparently commits suicide. A colleague is not convinced and teams up with a retired CID Inspector to look into it. They finally uncover a spy ring but in doing so endanger their own lives.....
    3.5 stars out of 5 66% from 457 members
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Lynn Redgrave facts

5 most recent films

My Dog Tulip - 3.0 stars
White Countess - 3.0 stars
Peter Pan - 3.0 stars
Peter Pan - Blu-ray - 3.0 stars
The Wild Thornberrys - The Movie - 3.0 stars

5 highest-rated films

Shine - 3.5 stars
Gods And Monsters - 3.5 stars
The Deadly Affair - 3.5 stars
My Dog Tulip - 3.0 stars
Georgy Girl - 3.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

The Happy Hooker - 2.0 stars
Rehearsal For Murder - 2.5 stars
White Lies - 2.5 stars
Death Of A Son - 2.5 stars
The National Health - 2.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Ralph Fiennes - 3 times - show films
Tim Curry - 3 times - show films
Rupert Everett - 3 times - show films
Jeremy Sumpter - 2 times - show films
Ludivine Saignier - 2 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Cathy Malkasian - 2 times - show films
Gary J. Tunnicliffe - 2 times - show films
David Cronenberg - 2 times - show films
Jeff McGrath - 2 times - show films
P.J. Hogan - 2 times - show films