Actress Redgrave dies after bout with cancer

May 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Lynn Redgrave, an introspective and independent player in her family’s acting dynasty who became a 1960s sensation as the unconventional title character of “Georgy Girl” and later dramatized her troubled past in such one-woman stage performances as “Shakespeare for My Father” and “Nightingale,” has died. She was 67.

Her publicist, Rick Miramontez, speaking on behalf of her children, said Redgrave died peacefully Sun- day night at her home in Kent, Conn. Children Ben, Pema and Annabel were with her, as were close friends.

“Our beloved mother, Lynn Rachel, passed away peacefully after a seven-year journey with breast cancer,” Redgrave’s children said in a statement Monday. “She lived, loved and worked harder than ever before. The endless memories she created as a mother, grandmother, writer, actor and friend will sustain us for the rest of our lives. Our entire family asks for privacy through this difficult time.”

Redgrave was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2002, had a mastectomy in January 2003 and underwent chemotherapy.

The youngest child of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, Lynn Redgrave never quite managed the acclaim — or notoriety — of elder sibling Vanessa but received Oscar nominations for “Georgy Girl” and “Gods and Monsters,” and Tony nominations for “Mrs. Warren’s Profession,” “Shakespeare for My Father” and “The Constant Wife.”