Vanessa Redgrave facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dame Vanessa Redgrave DBE
Redgrave in 2019
Born	(1937-01-30) 30 January 1937 (age 88) Blackheath, London, England
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actress political activist
Years active	1958–present
Notable work	Filmography
Spouse(s)	Tony Richardson ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1967)​ Franco Nero ​ ​ (m. 2006)​
Partner(s)	Timothy Dalton (1971–1986)
Children	Natasha Richardson Joely Richardson Carlo Gabriel Nero
Parent(s)	Michael Redgrave Rachel Kempson
Family	Redgrave
Awards	Full list

Dame Vanessa Redgrave is a famous English actress. She was born on January 30, 1937. For over sixty years, she has been a star in movies, TV shows, and plays. She has won many important awards, like an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and an Olivier Award. This makes her one of the few actors to win the "Triple Crown of Acting" for stage, film, and television. She has also received special honors, including the BAFTA Fellowship Award.

Early Life and Family

Vanessa Redgrave was born in Blackheath, London. Her parents, Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, were also actors. When she was born, a famous actor named Laurence Olivier even announced it to an audience during a play! He said, "A great actress has been born this night."

Vanessa grew up during World War II. She remembered the bombings in London. Her family moved to the countryside for a while before returning to London. She went to schools for girls, like the Alice Ottley School and Queen's Gate School. Her siblings, Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave, also became actors. The Redgrave family is very well-known in the acting world.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting on Stage and Screen

Vanessa Redgrave began studying acting in 1954. Her first appearance on a big stage was in London in 1958. She acted alongside her brother.

In 1959, she performed in plays by William Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. She worked with famous actors like Charles Laughton and Laurence Olivier. In 1961, she became well-known for playing Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It. She also starred in a play with her father in 1960.

Her first movie role was in 1958, also with her father, in Behind the Mask. She became a film star with the movie Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966). For this role, she received her first of many nominations for an Academy Award. She also won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. She then appeared in the movie Blowup (1966).

Famous Roles and Awards

Redgrave played many real-life or historical figures. She was nominated for an Oscar for playing dancer Isadora Duncan in the film Isadora (1968). She also played Mary, Queen of Scots in a 1971 film, earning another Oscar nomination. She was Queen Guinevere in Camelot (1967).

In 1977, Vanessa Redgrave starred in the movie Julia. She played a woman who fought against the Nazis before World War II. Her co-star was Jane Fonda. Redgrave won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for this role.

When she won the Oscar, some groups protested because of her support for Palestinian rights. In her acceptance speech, she thanked Hollywood for not being scared by those who tried to stop her. She spoke about standing up for human rights and fighting against unfairness. This speech caused a lot of discussion and affected her career for some time.

Later Film and TV Work

Vanessa Redgrave continued to take on many different roles. She played famous writer Agatha Christie in Agatha (1979). She was also in Howards End (1992), which earned her another Oscar nomination. She appeared in big action movies like Mission: Impossible (1996).

In 2000, she won an Emmy Award for her role in the TV series If These Walls Could Talk 2. She also joined the cast of the TV show Nip/Tuck in 2004, playing the mother of a character played by her real-life daughter, Joely Richardson. Later, she appeared in movies like Venus (2006) and Atonement (2007).

Since 2012, Redgrave has been the narrator for the popular BBC series Call The Midwife. She also played important roles in historical films like Shakespeare's Coriolanus (2011) and Anonymous (2011), where she played Queen Elizabeth I. In 2017, at age 80, she directed her first documentary film, Sea Sorrow. It was about the struggles of child migrants.

Theatre Performances

Redgrave has won many awards for her stage work. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Revival in 1984. In 2003, she won a Tony Award for her performance in the play Long Day's Journey Into Night on Broadway.

In 2007, she starred in The Year of Magical Thinking, a play based on a book. She performed this show in New York and London. In 2010, she starred with James Earl Jones in Driving Miss Daisy on Broadway, which was very popular. She was nominated for another Tony Award for this role.

In 2016, she played Queen Margaret in Richard III in London. In 2022, she was in My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum. Many experts consider her one of the greatest stage actors of all time.

Personal Life and Family

Vanessa Redgrave was married to director Tony Richardson from 1962 to 1967. They had two daughters, actresses Natasha Richardson and Joely Richardson. Later, she met Italian actor Franco Nero while filming Camelot. They had a son, Carlo Gabriel Nero, who is a screenwriter and director. Vanessa and Franco later reunited and married in 2006. She also had a long relationship with actor Timothy Dalton. Vanessa Redgrave has six grandchildren.

Between 2009 and 2010, Vanessa faced great sadness. Her daughter Natasha Richardson passed away in 2009 after a skiing accident. Then, her brother Corin and sister Lynn also passed away in 2010.

Political Activism and Human Rights

Vanessa Redgrave has always been very active in politics and human rights. She believes strongly in helping others and speaking out against injustice.

In the 1960s, she protested against the Vietnam War. She used her acting earnings to build a nursery school for children near her home. She has also supported people seeking political asylum and spoken out against torture and unfair imprisonment.

In 1977, she helped make a documentary film called The Palestinian. This film was about the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). She sold her house to help fund the film. The film caused controversy, but Redgrave continued to stand by her beliefs in human rights for all.

She has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1995, working to help children around the world. She has also spoken out against the "war on terrorism," saying that governments should always follow international human rights laws. She believes that democracy means no torture, no camps, and no detention without trial.

In 2017, her documentary Sea Sorrow highlighted the struggles of migrants and refugees. She has criticized governments for not doing enough to help people fleeing their homes. She believes that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Selected Film and TV Acting Credits

Awards and Honors

Vanessa Redgrave has won many important awards throughout her career. These include:

• An Academy Award
• A BAFTA Award
• Two Primetime Emmy Awards
• A Laurence Olivier Award
• Two Golden Globe Awards
• A Screen Actors Guild Award
• A Tony Award

She has been nominated for the Academy Award six times:

• 1966: Best Actress, for Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment
• 1968: Best Actress, for Isadora
• 1971: Best Actress, for Mary, Queen of Scots
• 1977: Best Supporting Actress, won, for Julia
• 1984: Best Actress, for The Bostonians
• 1992: Best Supporting Actress, for Howards End

In 1967, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 2022, she was given the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her amazing contributions to drama.

Images for kids

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  Redgrave around 1970.

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  Redgrave in 1994.

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  Redgrave around 1981.

See also

In Spanish: Vanessa Redgrave para niños