Look Back at Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson's Legendary 15-Year Marriage
Look Back at Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson's Legendary 15-Year Marriage
Sophie Dodd, Jordana Comiter, Emily KrauserWed, March 18, 2026 at 2:28 PM UTC
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Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the 33rd annual American Ireland Fund gala at Lincoln Center in New York City on May 8, 2008Credit: Shawn Ehlers/WireImage -
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson met in 1993 and married in July 1994
The former Broadway costars welcomed two children together
In March 2009, Richardson died unexpectedly after suffering a brain injury in a skiing accident
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson's romance was as bright as the lights on Broadway.
The couple were married for 15 years before The Parent Trap actress's sudden death on March 18, 2009, following a severe brain injury from a skiing accident in Canada.
Neeson and Richardson first met in 1993, when they starred opposite each other in Anna Christie on Broadway. They married one year later on July 3, 1994, and went on to welcome two children together, sons Micheál Richardson and Daniel Neeson.
In October 2024, the Naked Gun star opened up to PEOPLE about how his family "pulled together" in the wake of Richardson's death.
"It was a horrible thing to happen," Neeson said, adding that his primary focus became making sure his sons, then teens, "were okay."
From the early days of their romance to their wedding, here's everything to know about Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson's relationship.
1992: Natasha Richardson asks Liam Neeson to star opposite her on Broadway
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the 12th annual Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Awards at Lincoln Center in N.Y.C. in 1993Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
The future couple reportedly first connected when Richardson — daughter of legendary British actress Vanessa Redgrave — sought out Neeson to play an Irish sailor in the Broadway revival of Anna Christie, a play she starred in while in London two years prior and worked to bring to New York.
"I think [playwright Eugene] O'Neill wrote that part for Liam Neeson," she told the Los Angeles Times in January 1993.
January 14, 1993: Anna Christie opens, starring Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the 51st Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 22, 1994Credit: Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty
Anna Christie opened to rave reviews at the Criterion Center in N.Y.C. on Jan. 14, 1993.
The play was quickly extended until Feb. 28, with The New York Times praising Richardson for "what may prove to be the performance of the season," highlighting the "sensitive partnering she receives" from Neeson.
While sparks were flying onstage, Natasha, then 29, was married to British producer Robert Fox. Neeson, then 40, was no stranger to high-profile romances, including a four-year relationship with Helen Mirren and a proposal to Brooke Shields just a few months before meeting Richardson.
In February 2014, the Star Wars actor reflected on his and Richardson's initial chemistry during an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, which also marked the first time he spoke publicly about her death.
"I'd never had that kind of an explosive chemistry situation with an actor or actress," Neeson said, adding, "She and I were like [Fred] Astaire and [Ginger] Rogers. We had just this wonderful kind of dance, free dance on stage every night, you know?"
April 1993: Natasha Richardson divorces Robert Fox
Roughly one month after closing night, Richardson split from Fox after four years of marriage, PEOPLE reported.
The Cabaret star later opened up about falling for Neeson while her "marriage [was] falling apart," calling it "bad timing."
"Working with him, what happened between us, and that becoming public knowledge in conjunction with my marriage falling apart, was kind of bad timing," she told the New York Daily News in an interview released after her death in March 2009.
Richardson added, "So what can I say? Obviously, I fell very much in love with him."
May 11, 1993: Liam Neeson celebrates Natasha Richardson's 30th birthday
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson attend the premiere of 'Schindler's List' at the Cineplex Odeon Theater in Century City, Calif., on Dec. 9, 1993Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Following the play's run, the pair's budding romance blossomed while Neeson was filming Schindler's List in Poland, a role that earned him his first Oscar nomination.
The Irish actor reportedly sent Richardson a card for her 30th birthday, which read, "You're catching up with me," according to the New York Daily News. He signed it in character: "Lots of love, Oskar."
In response, Richardson reportedly replied that the note seemed too platonic and asked about the pair's relationship status.
"That was when I knew I really loved this person," Neeson said, according to the newspaper. "I thought, 'This is real and genuine and is something that has to be protected.' "
June 6, 1993: Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson make their red carpet debut at the Tony Awards
A few months after the play's end, the pair walked their first red carpet hand-in-hand at the 1993 Tony Awards. They were up for Best Lead Actor and Actress for their performances in Anna Christie.
1994: Natasha Richardson tells Liam Neeson she won't marry him if he plays James Bond
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson attend 'The Ever After' gala at the Palazzo Corsini in Florence, Italy, on Sept. 19, 1998Credit: Eric Robert/Sygma/Sygma via Getty
The Cold Storage star revealed during a June 2021 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden that in the mid-1990s, he had been approached about potentially taking on the iconic 007 character. (The part ultimately went to Pierce Brosnan.)
Richardson, his then-fiancée, was quick to tell him that the potential work could impact their lives.
"I know they were looking at various actors, and I apparently was among them. However, my dear, departed wife did say to me ... 'Darling, if you're offered James Bond and you're going to play it, you're not going to marry me,' " Neeson told host James Corden.
Neeson previously explained to Men's Journal in 2018 that he understood her concerns.
“Women. Foreign countries. Halle Berry. It’s understandable," he said, adding, “She was like, ‘You’re going to ruin your career.' But it’s no big deal. It’s nice to be inquired after.”
July 3, 1994: Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson get married at their home in upstate New York
Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson share a kiss at the Tony Awards party at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City in June 1998Credit: Robin Platzer/Getty
Roughly one year into their romance, Neeson and Richardson said "I do" in an intimate backyard ceremony at their shared farmhouse in Millbrook, N.Y.
According to PEOPLE, the bride wore a Donna Karan wedding gown, and the guest list of 70 attendees included stars Emma Thompson, Steven Spielberg and Mia Farrow, among others.
Richardson surprised Neeson at the ceremony by serenading him with Van Morrison's "Crazy Love," a revelation he later made during a SiriusXM Radio Andy interview in January 2016.
"Behind my back, Natasha had been taking singing lessons to sing it to me," Neeson said. "After the ceremony, we were all going out to start the night's festivities, and she grabbed the microphone, and she sang me this. She had learned it, and I was like, 'Wow!' "
December 16, 1994: Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson star in their first movie together
The newlyweds starred opposite each other on the big screen for the first time in 1994's Nell.
According to the New York Daily News, Richardson sought out the part of Paula Olsen after Neeson was cast, hoping to avoid a lengthy separation while filming in North Carolina.
"It was difficult to kind of go, 'Bye, honey! Have fun with the other girls!' " she said. "I thought I would do anything to play this part."
June 22, 1995: Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson welcome their first child together
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the 54th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 19, 1997Credit: Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
The couple expanded their family soon after getting married. They welcomed their first child, a son named Michéal, on June 22, 1995.
Michéal went on to follow in his parents' footsteps, pursuing a career as an actor and eventually changing his last name from Neeson to Richardson to honor his late mom.
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August 27, 1996: Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson welcome their second son
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the Film Society of Lincoln Center Honors Clint Eastwood event at Avery Fisher Hall in N.Y.C. on May 6, 1996Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Just over one year later, the new parents welcomed their second son, Daniel, on Aug. 27, 1996.
"This was a bit unexpected," Richardson told The Buffalo News in March 1996 at the time of her back-to-back pregnancies. "We wanted more children, just not so close together. I mean, I had just gotten my body and my professional life back in shape when this happened."
She told the newspaper that she "felt a bit conflicted at first."
"As a woman and a mother, I thought, 'Great!' As an actress, I screamed, 'Help!' " Richardson added. "Of course, now I'm just reveling in it. And I love the idea that the children will be so close in age."
June 2, 2002: Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson present at the Tony Awards together
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the 56th annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in N.Y.C. on June 2, 2002Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
At the 56th annual Tony Awards, Richardson and Neeson strutted onstage holding hands as they presented the award for Best Leading Actress together at N.Y.C.'s Radio City Music Hall.
March 16, 2009: Natasha Richardson suffers a brain injury after a ski accident
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson at The Cinema Society's screening of 'Seraphim Falls' at the Tribeca Grand Hotel Screening Room in N.Y.C. on Jan. 23, 2007Credit: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan via Getty
Richardson was skiing on a beginner's slope with an instructor at Quebec's Mont Tremblant when she fell and hit her head. The Tony Award winner reportedly wasn't wearing a helmet, per NBC News.
Initially, her injury seemed minor, with the actress reportedly refusing to be taken to the hospital at least two times. Ultimately, her symptoms worsened, and she was evacuated to a hospital in Montreal, where Neeson flew to meet her from the Toronto movie set he was working on.
After her death, Neeson described their final phone call to Cooper on 60 Minutes in February 2014.
"I spoke to her, and she said, 'Oh, darling. I've taken a tumble in the snow.' That's how she described it," the Taken star recalled.
When Neeson arrived, the doctor informed him that Richardson was "brain dead" and showed him an X-ray of her injury, which the actor said depicted her brain "squashed up against the side of the skull."
He went in to say his final goodbye, telling Cooper, "She was on life support ... and [I] told her I loved her. Said, 'Sweetie, you're not coming back from this. You've banged your head. ... And we're bringing you back to New York. All your family and friends will come.' "
During the 60 Minutes interview, Neeson noted that he and Richardson had "made a pact" that if "any of us got into a vegetative state that we'd pull the plug."
According to ABC News, she was transferred from a Canadian hospital to N.Y.C.'s Lenox Hill Hospital, where her loved ones said goodbye.
The actor also told Cooper that Richardson was an organ donor and ultimately donated her heart, kidneys and liver, which he feels "she would be very thrilled and pleased by."
March 18, 2009: Natasha Richardson's death is confirmed
Richardson was then flown back to upstate New York to be buried near their home, where family and friends paid their respects.
Her family released a statement two days after her fatal fall, which they confirmed resulted in her death at age 45 due to an epidural hematoma.
"Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement read. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."
February 23, 2014: Liam Neeson speaks out about Natasha Richardson's death for the first time
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend the 'Road to Perdition' premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in N.Y.C. on July 9, 2002Credit: Evan Agostini/ImageDirect
Speaking to Cooper on 60 Minutes from the upstate New York farmhouse that he and Richardson shared, Neeson opened up about his wife's death and his grief for the first time.
He admitted that her being gone never felt real to him.
"It still kind of isn't," he said, adding that during the first few years after her death, he anticipated hearing her walk through the front door.
Neeson continued, "Grief's like — it hits you. It's like a wave. You just get this profound feeling of instability. You feel like a three-legged table. Just suddenly ... the Earth isn't stable anymore. And then it passes and becomes more infrequent, but I still get it sometimes."
The Cold Storage star told Cooper that he threw himself into his work after Richardson's death to cope with the loss and to be there for their sons, saying, "I'm not good without work."
He went on to star in nearly 40 films in the decade following Richardson's death, including Chloe (2009), The Next Three Days (2010), Unknown (2011), The Grey (2011), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Non-Stop (2014), Silence (2016), The Commuter (2018) and Cold Pursuit (2019).
"I just don't — I just don't wallow too much," the Oscar-nominated actor said. "... And I just didn't want to — especially for my boys — seem to be wallowing in sadness or depression."
Neeson added that having a schedule "helps a great deal."
March 31, 2017: Liam Neeson reflects on losing Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson attend The Costume Institute's Gala Celebrating Chanel at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in N.Y.C. on May 2, 2005Credit: Gregory Pace/FilmMagic
Neeson reunited with the cast of Love Actually for a Red Nose Day special in 2017. (In the 2003 film, he plays a widower who is raising a young son alone — a tragedy quite similar to the path his own life took six years later when Richardson died.)
About revisiting the role on-screen, he told Entertainment Weekly in March of that year, "It's 14 years ago now, and we've all lived lives. Some of us have died. ... Some have gotten divorced. I've lost my wife."
He added, "And, oh, sure, plenty of times I've thought about this film and my own life. Love Actually, that's the way it is. That's the tapestry of life."
July 2020: Liam Neeson shares how Natasha Richardson is still present in his life
In July 2020, Neeson was asked if he had dreams about Richardson. He told Inquirer.net that he hadn't had "clear dreams," but she was still present in his daily life.
"I speak to her every day at her grave, which is about a mile and a half down the road," he added. "I go down there quite often, so I do speak to her as if she's here. Not that she answers me."
The interview was one of many that Neeson and his son Micheál did during a press tour for their film Made in Italy, which was released in August 2020.
The movie, which marked the second time they played father and son on-screen, stars Neeson as a grieving dad who travels to Italy to sell the villa he and his estranged son inherited from his late wife.
"It's so close to home and the parallels between the story and our life are so personal," Neeson told the Observer at the time, with Micheál adding that "mainly the whole filming of it was the catharsis."
July 31, 2025: Liam Neeson recalls falling in love with Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson arrive during the 'Conde Nast Traveler' celebration of '20 Years of Truth in Travel' at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in N.Y.C. on Oct. 10, 2007Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage
Over 16 years after Richardson's death, Neeson reflected on the early days of the acting duo's romance while performing on Broadway together, telling The New York Times in July 2025, "It was great doing it every night with her and falling in love." (The NYT interview took place one block away from the theater where he and Richardson met and costarred in Anna Christie.)
He also mentioned that Richardson was the one who let him know that his action-revenge movie Taken was a hit.
Neeson recalled that Richardson broke the news to him "when she walked up the stairs, giggling, with a tray carrying tea and a bran muffin." Per the Times, she told him that the 2008 film "was doing well at the box office."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
