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Lynn Redgrave Dies at 67 Following Cancer Battle

Twice Oscar-nominated actress Lynn Redgrave has died aged 67 following a seven-year battle with breast cancer.

The daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, she was the younger sibling to actors Vanessa and Corin, who died last month.

Although not the most prominent member of the Redgrave acting dynasty, she was nevertheless considered an extremely talented, versatile and amiable actress, and was appointed an OBE in 2002.

After training at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Redgrave made her professional acting debut in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Court in 1962, and the following year was invited to join Laurence Olivier's National Theatre for its inaugural season at the Old Vic.

In 1966 she made her Broadway debut in the National's production of Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy opposite Michael Crawford.

She then returned to London where stage appearances included Michael Frayn's The Two of Us with Richard Briers at the Garrick Theatre, David Hare's Slag at the Royal Court and Born Yesterday, directed by Tom Stoppard at Greenwich Theatre.

In 1974 she returned to Broadway in My Fat Friend, after which she settled in the States. But despite her growing affiliation with American theatre (she eventually became a US citizen), she made regular returns to the West End, including a 1990 revival of Three Sisters, in which she appeared opposite her sister Vanessa.

She also brought her one-woman play Shakespeare For My Father to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1996 as part of an international tour.

Her prolific film career began in 1963 with a supporting role in the hit Tom Jones, directed by Vanessa’s then husband Tony Richardson. Subsequent credits included Girl With Green Eyes (1964) and Georgy Girl (1966), for which she won the first of her Oscar nominations (the second was for Gods and Monsters in 1998).

In recent years she became known to a new generation thanks to appearances in several popular US TV series including Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty.

Lynn Redgrave is survived by her three children Benjamin (born 1968), actress Kelly (born 1970) and Annabel Lucy Clark (born 1981).

For further tributes see our chief critic Michael Coveney's blog

- by Theo Bosanquet

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