Vanessa Redgrave Actress Date of Birth: 30.01.1937 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Vanessa Redgrave

Born on January 30, 1937, in London, Vanessa Redgrave is an actress whose roles have always been significant. Perhaps that is why she has portrayed several royal figures in her acting career, including Queen Guinevere in "Camelot" (1967), Mary Stuart in "Mary, Queen of Scots" (1972), and Princess Sophia in the TV series "Peter the Great" (1986).

Vanessa Redgrave, the daughter of renowned English actor Sir Michael Redgrave, never intended to become an actress. Her dream was to pursue ballet. However, she had to give up dancing because of her tall stature, large hands, and feet, which hindered her path to the ballet stage. Redgrave graduated from the London School of Music and Drama as a dramatic actress and made her stage debut in 1957. The following year, she appeared in her first film, "Behind the Mask," playing the daughter of a character portrayed by her own father, Michael Redgrave.

In the early 1960s, Redgrave dedicated herself exclusively to theater, performing as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her on-screen fame came after the film "Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment" (1966), which won the 19th Cannes Film Festival award.

She became a European star in 1967 after the premiere of Michelangelo Antonioni's film "Blow-Up" in London, at the Cannes Film Festival. This path continued with the film "Isadora" directed by Karel Reisz, which won the 22nd Cannes Film Festival award in 1969. Here, Redgrave's passion for ballet and her political sympathies found expression, as her portrayal of Isadora Duncan as the "first hippie" challenging society resonated with the sentiments of the left-wing intelligentsia in the 1960s.

Redgrave herself was not detached from politics. She made unsuccessful attempts to enter Parliament as a member of the Trotskyist "Revolutionary Workers Party," which supported Palestinian terrorists and Libyan leader Gaddafi. She also produced and wrote the documentary film "The Palestinians" (1978). In 1978, she received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film "Julia" (1977), based on Lilian Hellman's autobiographical novella. She received an Emmy Award for her role in the film "Playing for Time," which annually recognizes the best American television works of the year.

Vanessa Redgrave's portrayals have always been significant. With age, a combination of courage and femininity became her predominant characteristic, allowing her to play a transsexual in both forms in the TV film "Second Serve" (1986).

However, Vanessa's personal life was filled with purely feminine passions. Her marriage to director Tony Richardson ended in 1967 due to his affair with Jeanne Moreau. It was during this time that her romance with Franco Nero, who played Lancelot in "Camelot," became the talk of the town. One of her more recent relationships was with one of the James Bonds, Timothy Dalton.

Vanessa Redgrave's two daughters, Natasha and Joely Richardson, have followed in her footsteps and become actresses. Her son is Carlo Nero.