Joely Richardson
Date of Birth: January 9, 1965
Born and raised in London, Joely Richardson comes from a long line of talented actors. Her mother is
Vanessa Redgrave, and her father is the late director Tony Richardson. She is also the granddaughter
of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, niece of actors Corin and Lynn Redgrave, and sister of
actress Natasha Richardson. If that isn't enough, her brother-in-law is Liam Neeson.
However the genes were slow - as a child she saw her older sister Natashsa interested in acting but
she was a tomboy, imagining a career in gymastics. She grew too far too fast, and gymnastics was out.
She considers herself a sort of honorary Yank, having attended boarding school in Santa Barbara
California. She returned to England however to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and soon
after made her film debut in David Hare's Wetherby (1985), in which she played the character portrayed
by her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, as a young girl.
Upon graduation, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and starred in such productions as A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Worlds Apart, among others. Additional stage credits include
Beauty and the Beast and Steel Magnolias. Her television work includes David Hare's Heading Home (1991)
with Gary Oldman, Ken Russell's four-hour adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover (1992),
The Echo and The Tribe (both 1998).
Beginning in the 80's film became her life, from small parts Wetherby (1985) to BBC dramas Lady Chatterley
(1992) (TV) to film. Richardson's film credits range from the art-house favorite Drowning By Numbers
(1988) -- in which she is one of three murderesses, all named Cissy Colpitts -- to the abortive musical
I'll Do Anything (1993). But the role that put Richardson in the main streem was Disney's live action,
101 Dalmatians (1996), opposite Glenn Close and Jeff Daniels. She followed this film with another hit film,
the sci-fi thriller, Event Horizon (1997).
Following the completion of her work on Return To Me, Richardson headed to South Carolina to star with
Mel Gibson in The Patriot (both 2000), director Roland Emmerich's epic of the American Revolution.
With her husband, producer Tim Bevan, Richardson bore a daughter, Daisy Bevan. The two separated in
1997.
Filmography:
The Patriot (2000)
Maybe Baby (2000)
Return to Me (2000)
Under Heaven (1998)
Wrestling with Alligators (1998)
Event Horizon (1997)
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Hollow Reed (1996)
Loch Ness (1995)
Sister My Sister (1994)
I'll Do Anything (1994)
Rebecca's Daughters (1992)
Shining Through (1992)
King Ralph (1991)
A proposito di quella strana ragazza (1989)
Drowning by Numbers (1988)
Body Contact (1987)
Wetherby (1985)
The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) (uncredited)