ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONTREAL - British actress Natasha Richardson is in critical condition in a Montreal hospital after being severely injured in a skiing accident in Quebec, according to published reports.
People.com and IrishCentral.com reported that the Tony award-winning actress and wife of Liam Neeson suffered a head injury Monday and is in a Montreal hospital.
People.com said Richardson was initially taken to a hospital near the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, and was later transferred to the Montreal hospital.
A family member confirmed Richardson had had a skiing accident.
"We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details," said Kika Markham, who is married to Richardson's uncle, Corin Redgrave. "We are very concerned."
Richardson, 45, is the elder daughter of Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson, and belongs to a British acting dynasty.
Her maternal grandparents were the actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and her uncle Corin and aunt Lynne Redgrave are also both actors. Sister Joely Richardson is also an actress, best known for starring in TV series "Nip/Tuck."
Richardson's films include "Gothic," ''A Month in the Country," "Nell" - in which she appeared with future husband Liam Neeson - "The Parent Trap" and "Maid in Manhattan."
Trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, Richardson has had extensive stage experience in the West End and Broadway. She won a Tony Award in 1998 for playing Sally Bowles in "Cabaret."
In January, Richardson and her mother played the roles of mother and daughter in a one-night benefit concert version of "A Little Night Music," the Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York.
She married Neeson in 1994, and the couple has two sons.
Richardson at the UK premiere of ''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. According to conflicting reports, British actress Natasha Richardson is brain dead following a severe head injury from a skiing accident on Monday. The New York Post reported that friends of Richardson said she "was brain dead", after earlier reporting that she was "dead". They later issued a correction which said she was brain dead. Other media reports say that her brain is severely swollen. Fox News Channel also reports Richardson as brain dead.

Richardson was transported by plane from Sacré-Coeur Hospital in Montreal, Canada to a care facility in New York City in the United States. She remains in very critical condition and reports say she is not likely to survive. Once in the U.S., she will be taken off life support.

Richardson, 45, was taking a private skiing lesson in Mont-Tremblant in Quebec when reports say she fell, hitting her head. Despite the fall, witnesses say she did not appear to have been seriously injured. An hour after the fall and after she returned to her hotel room, Richardson began to feel ill and was taken to a local hospital. She was later transported to Sacré-Coeur Hospital.

"She was talking and making jokes and there was no sign of any apparent injury. She said she was okay and didn't want to go to hospital or see a doctor. About an hour later she said she was not feeling that good after all. She said she had a headache. They agreed to dial 911 and an ambulance came to take her away," Mont-Tremblant resort ski station spokeswoman Catherine Lacasse to The Daily Telegraph.

Richardson's husband, actor Liam Neeson, has left Toronto where he was filming a movie and will be with Natasha when she arrives in the U.S.. He was acting in the movie 'Chloe', which was being filmed in the area. Both were staying at the resort in Mont-Tremblant. The couple have two children who were also staying with them, Daniel Jack age 12 and Micheal Richard Antonio age 13. They are said to have been skiing with their mother when she fell.

"Liam Neeson left the Toronto set immediately to fly to Montreal upon news of his wife’s accident. We do not have any details at this time, but we hope for the best and our thoughts and prayers are with Natasha and Liam and their family," said spokespeople for Neeson in a statement to the press. Richardson's family and spokespeople are expected to issue a statement sometime after she arrives in New York City.