Three-Time Tony Nominee Lynn Redgrave Dead at 67

Lynn Redgrave, a member of one of the most famous family of actors, died at home in Connecticut on May 2. The actress was 67 and had battled breast cancer.

A warm and winning stage presence, Redgrave most recently appeared on the New York stage in the fall of 2009 in the third in a trilogy of autobiographical solo shows, Nightingale, a fictional meditation on the life of her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Kempson. The show was produced by Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center Stage I, where it received excellent reviews. Nightingale followed Shakespeare for My Father, which examined her relationship with Sir Michael Redgrave, and Mandrake, loosely based on her mother, actress Rachel Kempson.

Born in London on March 8, 1943, Redgrave became famous for her first major film role, Georgy Girl, in 1966, which earned her an Oscar nomination. She garnered a second Oscar nomination in 1999 for her work in Gods and Monsters. Redgrave, who made her Broadway debut in 1967, was nominated for three Tony Awards for Mrs. Warren’s Profession in 1976, Shakespeare for My Father in 1993 and The Constant Wife in 2006. She also appeared on Broadway in Moon Over Buffalo, The Master Builder and Saint Joan, among others. Recent off-Broadway credits include Grace, Talking Heads and The Exonerated. At BAM, she played Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. She was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in January 2010.

Redgrave and her daughter Annabel Clark, a photographer, collaborated on the 2004 book Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery From Breast Cancer, now in its third printing.

Redgrave’s death follows two recent deaths in her famous family: Her brother Corin Redgrave died on April 6, 2010, and her niece Natasha Richardson (daughter of her sister Vanessa), died on March 18, 2009, at the age of 45. Redgrave is survived by her sister Vanessa and her children, Benjamin, Pema and Annabel as well as six grandchildren and four nieces and nephews.

In a statement, her children said, “Our beloved mother Lynn Rachel passed away peacefully after a seven year journey with breast cancer. She lived, loved and worked harder than ever before. The endless memories she created as a mother, grandmother, writer, actor and friend will sustain us for the rest of our lives. Our entire family asks for privacy through this difficult time.”