Lynn Redgrave biography

Synopsis

Profile

Actress. Born March 8, 1943, the youngest of legendary actor Sir Michael Redgrave and actress Rachel Kempson's three children (brother Corin and sister Vanessa).

Lynn Redgrave represents the American branch of the illustrious Redgrave dynasty's five generations of thespians. London-born Redgrave studied at the Central School of Music and Drama and made her professional debut in the Royal Court Theatre's 1962 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The following year, she helped found Britain's National Theatre (now the Royal National Theatre) under the tutelage of Sir Laurence Olivier.

Redgrave's distinguished and varied career has included everything from stage and screen to Weight Watchers television commercials and books on tape. Although Redgrave's first feature film was in the bawdy Tom Jones (1963), it was in the year she made her Broadway debut in Black Comedy (1967) with Michael Crawford, Geraldine Page, and soon-to-be husband John Clark, that she also received her first Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe win for Georgy Girl, the film that would make her an international star. Since then, Redgrave hasn't stopped performing--or winning. Among her many notable roles: The Queen in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex (1972), the title role in The Happy Hooker (1975), Mrs. Warren's Profession for which she won a 1976 Tony, Ann Anderson in House Calls (1981) for which she received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, Death of a Son for which she won the 1989 BBC Best Television Actress award, her multiple award-winning one-woman show Shakespeare for My Father, Gillian Helfgott in Shine (1996) for which she was nominated for a SAG and a BAFTA, and Hanna in Gods and Monsters (1998) for which she won a 1999 Golden Globe and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.

As actress, director, author, teacher, and role model for almost four decades, Redgrave has made significant contributions to the arts. Her lifelong dedication has been rewarded with various honorary doctorates and the 1997 American Express Tribute for Achievement in the Arts, but her career shows no signs of slowing down. She co-starred in two American television shows, the late-night comedy series "Rude Awakening" and the miniseries, "Different."

A breast cancer survivor, she documented her experiences in the book Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancer.

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