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Lynn Redgrave won a Golden Globe for her breakout role in Georgy Girl 1966 and later earned an Oscar nomination for Gods and Monsters 1998. Born into the Redgrave acting dynasty in London, she overcame weight struggles and bulimia to become a stage and screen actress. She died of breast cancer in 2010 at age 67 after a 7-year battle.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Lynn Redgrave — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Lynn Redgrave by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Lynn Redgrave — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Lynn Redgrave was born on March 8, 1943 in Marylebone, London, into the Redgrave acting dynasty. Her parents were actors Rachel Kempson and Sir Michael Redgrave, and her siblings Vanessa and Corin also became actors. She initially wanted to be an equestrienne or chef. At age 15 she became involved in acting, attending her father’s stage performances. She later trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and made her stage debut in 1962.
Lynn Redgrave’s film career took off with Georgy Girl 1966, earning her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and an Academy Award nomination. Subsequent films like Smashing Time 1967 and The Virgin Soldiers 1969 did not sustain her momentum. Struggling to escape comparisons to her sister Vanessa, she moved to the U.S. in 1974 and focused on Broadway, with notable runs in Mrs. Warren’s Profession 1976 and Shakespeare for My Father 1993. She also became a Weight Watchers spokesperson and wrote the book This Is Living. After a lull, she returned to film in Shine 1996 and earned another Oscar nomination for Gods and Monsters 1998.
Lynn Redgrave married stage actor and director John Clark on April 2, 1967. The couple had three children: Benjamin, Kelly Anne, and Annabel. In 1999, she discovered Clark’s infidelity and they divorced. Earlier in the 1970s, Redgrave suffered from bulimia, which she later detailed in her book This Is Living. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen and lived in Connecticut. After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2003, she co-wrote Journal: A Mother and Daughter’s Recovery from Breast Cancer with her daughter Annabel.
Lynn Redgrave’s legacy is defined by her two award-winning performances: Georgy Girl and Gods and Monsters. She also received the OBE in 2002 for services to drama. She and her sister Vanessa were both nominated for Best Actress at the 39th Academy Awards, a rare sibling achievement. On stage, her one-woman show Shakespeare for My Father earned a Tony nomination. She is remembered as an actress who overcame personal and professional challenges.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Lynn Redgrave — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Lynn Redgrave — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Looking at My Horrible Ugly Bulk on a Huge Screen Was the Turning Point in My Life.
Little-known facts about Lynn Redgrave — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Lynn Redgrave was laid to rest at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Lithgow, New York, the same place as her mother Rachel Kempson and niece Natasha Richardson. Her funeral was attended by Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Brendan Fraser, and Liam Neeson.
Both she and sister Vanessa were nominated for the 1967 Best Actress Academy Award. Lynn was nominated for Georgy Girl, Vanessa for Morgan!; both lost to Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1981, Redgrave was fired from the TV show House Calls after wanting to breastfeed her 5-week-old daughter on set. Universal denied the claim, but a transcript revealed a negotiator said breastfeeding was the biggest problem of all for us.
She holds the distinction of being nominated for all four major show-business awards Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy but never winning any, earning the label anti-EGOT.
She died less than a month after her elder brother Corin Redgrave.
After her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, she co-wrote Journal: A Mother and Daughter’s Recovery from Breast Cancer with her daughter Annabel Clark and Barron Lerner.
She was awarded an OBE Officer of the Order of British Empire in the 2002 Queen’s New Years Honours List for services to drama.
She appeared on the cover of Time magazine March 17, 1967 with sister Vanessa, both having been Oscar-nominated that year.
Suffered from bulimia in the 1970s.
Became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Served as a judge at the 1972 Miss Universe pageant.
She was named for actress Lynn Fontanne.
She, her mother Rachel Kempson, and siblings Vanessa and Corin all appeared in films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture: Rachel in Tom Jones and Out of Africa, Lynn in Tom Jones, and Vanessa and Corin in A Man for All Seasons.
She, her father Michael, and brother Corin all appeared in adaptations of Henry James’s novella The Turn of the Screw: Michael in The Innocents 1961, Lynn in a 1974 TV movie, and Corin in a 2009 adaptation.
In January 1962 she appeared as Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
Played Queen Elizabeth I in The Lost Colony outdoor drama in Summer 2006 in Manteo, North Carolina.
In 1976 she appeared in Alexander Cohen’s revival of Hellzapoppin’ in Boston, where she became lovers with fellow actor Brandon Maggart.
Won the 2004 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for Collected Stories.
Her favorite parts were Rose in The Recruiting Officer and Jackie Coryton in Hay Fever.
Played the Final Interview Subject in Kinsey 2004 and The Queen in Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex 1972.
With her photographer daughter Annabel Clark, she published Our Journal in The New York Times, detailing her recovery from mastectomy in 2003.
She, her father Michael, and siblings Corin and Vanessa all appeared in films directed by Sidney Lumet: Michael in The Hill, Corin in The Deadly Affair, Lynn in The Deadly Affair and The Last of the Mobile Hot Shots, and Vanessa in The Sea Gull and Murder on the Orient Express.
Awarded the 1976 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for Misalliance at the Academy Festival Theatre in Chicago.
Awarded the 2006 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Solo Performance for Nightingale at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles.
As a young woman, she spent a few months at Regent Street Polytechnic in London learning to cook.
She resided in rural Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Nominated for the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Drama for The Constant Wife.
Performed as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey.
She was twice nominated for Broadway’s Tony Award as Best Actress Play: in 1976 for Mrs. Warren’s Profession and in 1993 for Shakespeare for My Father.
She was Assistant Stage Manager at London’s Royal Court Theatre when she learned she had landed a lead role in Smashing Time 1967, opposite Rita Tushingham.
She divorced John Clark in 1999 due to his infidelity.
Had a son named Ben with John Clark.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Lynn Redgrave.
Celebrities similar to Lynn Redgrave — same craft, ranked by reach.
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