Dennis Quaid Breaks Down Over Natasha Richardson as 17th Anniversary of Her Death Approaches
Seventeen years is not enough time. Dennis Quaid sat down for a podcast this week, watched a scene from The Parent Trap, and could not hold it together. Six words summed up what he felt: "I really miss her." With the anniversary of Natasha Richardson's death six days away — March 18 — the tributes are arriving early, and they are arriving raw.
She has been gone since 2009. The grief surrounding her remains completely undiminished.
Dennis Quaid on Natasha Richardson: "Something Magical About Her"
On the March 10 episode of the Out of Order podcast, Quaid teared up after watching one of his scenes with Richardson from the 1998 film. "My heart breaks every time," he said. "Natasha, she was just an incredible person and amazing."
The experience of playing her onscreen love interest left a mark that never faded. "If there's anybody I'd ever want to work with again, it'd be her," Quaid said. He described her presence on set as generous and joyful — someone who made everyone around her better simply by being there.
There was, he said, always "something magical about her."
Who Natasha Richardson Was
Born May 11, 1963 in Marylebone, London, Richardson came from one of the great theatrical dynasties in British history — daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, sister of Joely Richardson. The bloodline ran straight through the history of English performance.
She earned it on her own terms. Her Broadway debut in the 1993 revival of Anna Christie drew critical acclaim and a Theatre World Award. Five years later, playing Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes's revival of Cabaret, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The Parent Trap arrived the same year — a Disney film that introduced her to an entirely new generation of fans who had no idea she was one of the finest stage actresses of her era.
She was also, by every account of everyone who ever worked with her, exactly the person she appeared to be on screen.
The Accident That Took Her at 45
On March 16, 2009, Richardson fell during a beginner ski lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec. She initially declined medical assistance — and then, about two hours later, reported a severe headache. She was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and died two days later from an epidural hematoma. She was 45 years old.
Liam Neeson, her husband of 14 years, donated her organs following her death. Theatre lights were dimmed on Broadway and in London's West End the night she died. Her older son Micheál later changed his surname from Neeson to Richardson in her honor.
What the 17th Anniversary Looks Like
The Neeson family has found ways to carry her forward. Daniel, her 29-year-old son, recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Natalie Ackerman during a seaside New York City proposal. Liam has been seen publicly more often lately, his profile raised by a new film — and Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson's 88-year-old mother, is set to appear alongside him in the upcoming Cold Storage, the first time the two have worked together since losing her.
Lindsay Lohan has also honored Richardson publicly, calling her an "Angel" in a tribute posted on what would have been her 58th birthday last May. The Parent Trap — which turns 28 this year — keeps finding new audiences and keeps pulling the grief back to the surface for everyone who was there for the original.
Quaid did not need a milestone anniversary to remember her. He just needed a podcast, a playback, and 30 seconds of footage from a movie made 28 years ago.
"I really miss her," he said. That was enough.
