Redgrave, Vanessa (1937-…), is a leading English stage and motion-picture actress. She won the 1977 Academy Award as best supporting actress for her performance in Julia. Although Redgrave has won international praise for her acting, she has created much controversy because of her outspoken support of left-wing causes.
Redgrave was born on Jan. 30, 1937, in London. She is a member of one of the most distinguished acting families in English theater history. Her parents were Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, both leading stage actors in England. Vanessa Redgrave studied acting in London from 1954 to 1958, when she made her professional stage debut. She performed classical roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company for several seasons beginning in 1959. Redgrave continues to work regularly in the theater. In 2003, she received a Tony Award for her performance as Mary Tyrone in the Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. In 2007, she won praise for her portrayal of the American writer Joan Didion in Didion’s New York stage adaptation of Didion’s book, The Year of Magical Thinking (2005). In 2010, she starred in a Broadway revival of Driving Miss Daisy (1987).
Redgrave made her film debut in Behind the Mask (1958). Her other films include A Man for All Seasons and Morgan—A Suitable Case for Treatment (both 1966); Camelot (1967); Isadora (1968), in which she portrayed the American dancer Isadora Duncan; Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), in which she portrayed the Scottish queen Mary Stuart; The Bostonians (1984); Prick Up Your Ears (1987); Howards End (1992); Mission: Impossible (1996); A Rumor of Angels (2000); Venus (2006); Evening and Atonement (both 2007); Letters to Juliet and The Whisteblower (both 2010); Anonymous (2011); Coriolanus (2011), based on the play by William Shakespeare; Unfinished Song (2012); and Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013). In 2012, she began narrating the British television series “Call the Midwife.”
Redgrave’s sister, Lynn, and her brother, Corin, also became noted actors. Redgrave was married to the British film director Tony Richardson from 1962 to 1967. Their daughters, Natasha Richardson and Joely Richardson, became successful actresses. Redgrave wrote Vanessa Redgrave: An Autobiography (1994).
