Inside Natasha Richardson’s Tragic and Shocking Death

The morning of March 16, 2009, brought sunny skies and rising temperatures to the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Québec, Canada, the cusp-of-spring day beckoning visitors outdoors to its cobblestone-lined streets and scenic mountain trails.

The resort’s guests that Monday included 45-year-old actress Natasha Richardson, who was ready to take on ski lessons with the same aplomb that produced celebrated screen roles in Patty Hearst and The Parent Trap, as well as a Tony Award-winning performance in Cabaret.

But what started as an idyllic day ended in tragedy, when a seemingly commonplace tumble on the slopes resulted in a severe brain injury and, ultimately, Richardson’s death. The actor left behind her husband, Liam Neeson, and their two sons, Micheál and Daniel.

Nearly two decades later, the questionable response to her fall still looms painfully large.

Richardson initially declined medical assistance

Around noon, Richardson was on the hill with an instructor and nearing the bottom of a beginners’ trail when she toppled over. Her head, left unprotected without a helmet, banged against the still hard-packed snow.

Richardson initially shrugged off the spill. However, her wary instructor sought a second opinion from the ski patrol, who subsequently called for an ambulance.

Still, Richardson insisted that she was fine. She signed a waiver to decline medical care and walked to her room at the Hotel Quintessence. Her instructor and a member of the ski patrol joined to make sure she was safe.

Paramedics later arrived in an ambulance at 1 p.m. Learning their services weren’t needed, they left the hotel complex a few minutes later.

Natasha Richardson attends an event in 2005.

Richardson was taken to a pair of hospitals

Back in her room, Richardson initially showed no ill effects from the incident. She even made light of it in a phone call to her husband Neeson, who was in Toronto to shoot a film. “Oh, darling. I’ve taken a tumble in the snow,” she casually reported.

However, anxiety levels soon climbed as Richardson began complaining of a headache and showing signs of confusion. Another call for an ambulance was placed at 3 p.m., with the dispatcher indicating the increased urgency of the situation.

Sent to a nearby hospital in Sainte-Agathe, Richardson displayed promising vital signs and breathed easily with help from oxygen. However, her orientation continued to plummet, and the hospital’s staff realized they weren’t equipped to handle what had become a dire situation. She was loaded into another ambulance just before 6 p.m., this time bound for a Montréal trauma center around 55 miles away.

Neeson found Richardson brain-dead

By that point, Neeson, who married Richardson in July 1994, had received word his wife was in serious trouble and quickly left the Toronto production. As the actor described to Esquire in 2011, he arrived at this forbidding “Dickensian” hospital, only to find that no one recognized him or had any intention of letting him past the emergency room.

Wandering outside, Neeson came upon a sympathetic nurse who directed him through a back door. He finally discovered Richardson hooked up to life support, and received the grim news that she was brain-dead.

Staring at the X-ray which revealed her brain being “squashed up against the side of the skull,” Neeson recalled a pact he’d once made with his wife. Both promised to “pull the plug” if the other wound up in this type of grim predicament.

“And I went into her and told her I loved her,” Neeson later told Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. "Said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this. You’ve banged your head. It’s–I don’t know if you can hear me, but that’s—this is what’s gone down. And we’re bringing ya back to New York. All your family and friends will come.’ And that was more or less it.”

Richardson was flown to New York, the site of her Broadway success and the home she shared with Neeson, and admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. There, surrounded by loved ones, she was removed from life support on March 18—two days after what was supposed to be a fun adventure on the slopes.

The autopsy confirmed Richardson’s head bump had resulted in an epidural hematoma, a condition in which blood pools between the brain and skull. It also sparked the unavoidable and unanswerable questions about whether quicker treatment—through the direct airlifting of Richardson to the Montréal hospital—or the simple act of Richardson wearing a helmet could have saved her life.

Ultimately, the answer will never be known.

Neeson and their children drew inspiration from her memory

Richardson’s absence still felt unreal to Neeson by early 2014, when he confessed to Cooper he sometimes expected his wife to walk through the door. Still, he had healed enough to gain some perspective, noting that she was “keeping three people alive” through the donation of her organs.

Their children also managed to move on from the devastating loss, in part by finding inspiration from their mother’s words and actions. David, just 12 at the time she passed, went on to found the environmentally friendly clothing line Pine Outfitters.

“She was always about, ‘Don’t ever feel like you have to be forced down a tunnel to fit in,’” he told the New York Post in 2019. “‘Do what you want to do, but do it to your best and be generous with it.’”

And Micheál, one year older than his brother, eventually took on his mother’s last name and entered the family business. His first leading film role came opposite Neeson in the 2020 comedy-drama Made in Italy, about a father and son who cope with the loss of the wife and mother who bound them together.

The production provided an opportunity to reflect on things with his old man, of course, as well as the other cast and crew members who were navigating the challenging experience of losing a loved one. “That’s where I felt Mom, in a way,” Micheál explained to Vanity Fair in 2020. “Through everybody.”

Neeson thought he was ‘past’ dating before a new romance

Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson attend a premiere event for The Naked Gun.

Neeson, now 73, never remarried. He dated public relations executive Freya St. Johnston for two years shortly after Richardson’s death, but otherwise has said little about his romantic life.

In October 2024, Neeson told People he no longer wished to date. “No, in a word. I’m past all that,” he said.

However, the actor has reportedly found new love with Pamela Anderson, his co-star in The Naked Gun reboot premiering Friday, August 1, in theaters. A source told People their romance is in the early stages, but “sincere, and it’s clear they’re smitten with each other.”

“I think I have a friend forever in Liam,” Anderson, 58, previously told Entertainment Weekly. "We definitely have a connection that is very sincere, very loving. He’s a good guy.”

However, it’s clear Neeson will never forget Richardson’s influence on their sons and their professional endeavors. “I think Natasha would be proud. I hope so,” he said in 2024.

Tyler Piccotti

News and Culture Editor, Biography.com

Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.