Liam Neeson Opens Up For the First Time About Natasha Richardson's Death

By John Mitchell Posted Feb 15th 2011 11:41PM

Nearly two years after his wife, Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson, passed away following a skiing accident, Liam Neeson is opening up for the first time about that terrible night in March 2009.

"I walked into the emergency [room] -- it's like seventy, eighty people, broken arms, black eyes, all that -- and for the first time in years, nobody recognizes me," the 'Taken' star told Esquire. "Not the nurses. The patients. No one. And I've come all this way, and they won't let me see her. And I'm looking past them, starting to push -- I'm like, 'F**k, I know my wife's back there someplace.'"

Neeson rarely speaks about his private life, and was initially hesitant to talk about Richardson with Esquire writer Tom Chiarella. However, while recounting a motorcycle accident that put him in the hospital in 2000, the Oscar-nominated star of 'Schindler's List' began to discuss the tragic parallels between the accident he survived and the one that took the life of his wife.

After striking a deer, Neeson lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into a ditch, breaking his pelvis in two places. He was transferred to New York City's Lenox Hill Hospital, and Richardson, who was filming in Canada, rushed to be by his side. "I found out later they'd told her I wouldn't last the night," Neeson said. "Well, they never f**king told me that."

The scene would be repeated nine years later, only in reverse, with Neeson rushing from the Canadian set of the film 'Chloe' to be with Richardson, who had hit her head in a skiing accident.

After the fall, Richardson was initially lucid and simply asked to be taken back to her room, dismissing the ambulances that reported to the scene. Three hours later, however, the actress was taken to a small Canadian hospital after complaining of a headache. Within a few hours she was transferred to a larger hospital in Montreal. Neeson rushed from the set of 'Chloe' to be with Richardson, who had fallen into a coma as a result of a brain hemorrhage sustained during the fall.

The day after Richardson's accident, she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she died on March 18, 2009. On March 19, theater lights on Broadway and in London's West End were dimmed in honor of the respected actress and dedicated AIDS research activist.

liam neeson esquire

"What am I gonna do? How am I going to get past the security?" Neeson told Chiarella, recounting what was going through his mind when he arrived at the hospital. "And I see two nurses, ladies, having a cigarette. I walk up, and luckily one of them recognizes me. And I'll tell you, I was so f**king grateful -- for the first time in I don't know how long -- to be recognized. And this one, she says, 'Go in that back door there.' She points me to it. 'Make a left. She's in a room there.' So I get there, just in time. And all these young doctors, who look all of eighteen years of age, they tell me the worst."

According to Chiarella, Neeson stopped the interview briefly while discussing Richardson, blinking back tears while gazing across the eatery at members of the late actress's extended family, who were coincidentally at the restaurant -- a favorite of Neeson and Richardson's -- the day of his interview with Esquire.

The actor returned to the set of 'Chloe' immediately after Richardson's funeral. "I just think I was still in a bit of shock," he said. "But it's kind of a no-brainer to go back to that work. It's a wee bit of a blur, but I know the tragedy hadn't just really smacked me yet."

Neeson and Richardson have two teenage sons, Michael and Daniel.

"I think I survived by running away some. Running away to work. Listen, I know how old I am and that I'm just a shoulder injury from losing roles like the one in 'Taken,'" the actor told Esquire. "So I stay with the training, I stay with the work. It's easy enough to plan jobs, to plan a lot of work. That's effective. But that's the weird thing about grief. You can't prepare for it. You think you're gonna cry and get it over with. You make those plans, but they never work."

Neeson's full interview is featured in Esquire's latest issue, on newsstands Feb. 22.

Tags: liam neeson, natasha richardson

Comments

(122)

Wednesday 16 February

By Dj Johnston

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Three words: Skii Season, Canada. It does not seem like much of an exaggeration after thinking about those two words, does it?

Tuesday 15 February

By Really

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coulda, woulda, shoulda, hinesight is 20-20? and so it goes.

By ev

He can say anything he wants to me in that delicious Irish brogue of his!! lol Lots of guys speak that way... that's the way he is. You can see tho that he still has his difficult days with it; as is the norm. He's got 2 beautiful kids and I'm sure they keep him going. Still, when you have a great love like that in your life and it's gone, you miss it like hell. I hope in time he finds his way 2 love again.

By MJC

I've lost my mom, dad and only sibling. You never get over the loss. You just learn to live with it.

By michael

sorry to hear that MJC.

By Hmmm

I personally think that Leam is one of Hollywoods finest actors. A real stand up guy! And I sincerely feel bad for his loss.

By buffy

Jennifer, he's Irish. In Ireland even the priests and nuns use the F word. They are not puritanical like Americans are.

By Lori Walker

Loosing your parents or sibling is NOTHING like loosing a spouse of many years Nothing She died on my birthday My husband , last year died suddenly on my birthday There is nothing in my life that feels the same It is sheer hell to lose them young and suddenly. I only wonder now where I will drift in life because all my planned future is gone in and instant.

By Dee Smith

They both need to grow up, but I don't think they ever will. They could do so much to help young people, instead they act worst than any child. Just think if they put all that they do to do good instead of bad, what a difference they could make.

By Katie

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Excuse me Dee, but who in the devil are you talking about?

By mem

God bless he and his family, what a terrible loss. Sad that so many of you missed the point of the story, his sharing the terrible details of the death of his wife and children's mother. The postings on his swearing are so childish!

By jivejerky

it's good to see Bull workin again

By elorac

I love Liam Neeson. It's a good thing that he can talk about his late wife and how he has dealt with his grief. From experience, I know it is part of the healing process to talk about those we have lost. You do not get "over" grief, you get "through it"... I wish him the best.

By Claudia

I cried reading the interview.
And since I lost someone around the same time period, I know the pain is still so fresh, and the hole they left behind remains forever.
Am so very sorry for your loss Liam.

Thursday 31 March

By kay

Well now if you say to someone fxxk this........they listen. Sometimes you have to and need to say FXXK.....I'm a woman, and if you dont like the way I talk FXXK You. Dang what people can pull out of what he said to talk about. What about his lose and his kids lose. I lost my husband to cancer in 03 we were married 26 years. I still miss him and cry over him. But thats my FXXKing business too. He spoke his heart and shared his pain. Hats off to him....I pray he will find some peace. So to the rest of you who only hear or read and only walked away with Fxxk, speaks lots of you. You perfect people make me sick, please share with us your secrets. DARE YOU

By Human

Leave Liam alone,

By Susan

It will be a long time before you will feel 'normal' in any way - but hang in there. After the death of my husband of 38 years, I don't even remember a great deal about the following 5-7 years. It is far more of a trauma than many realize and if you are alone and unable to work for whatever reason - there is little escape. May God (and the spirit of your wife) be with you.

By Lisa

I am still so very sorry for the loss of Natasha Richardson. She was a beautiful woman and an excellent actress. She is missed.

By Bek

Mr. Liam Neeson is the man of honor and as his fan I deeply sorry and share his loss.

By larry the hedge

The man does not get to grow old with his wife, and his teenage sons lost their mother. He can swear as much as he wants.

Agree 100%.

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