Joely Richardson Biography

Joely Kim Richardson (born 9 January 1965) is an English actress, known for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck. She also appeared in films such as 101 Dalmatians (1996), Event Horizon (1997), The Patriot (2000), Anonymous (2011), and the Hollywood film adaptation The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

Early life

Richardson was born in London to a theatrical family, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, and the granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, Lady Redgrave. She is the sister of the late actress Natasha Richardson (1963"2009), and through her, she is the sister-in-law of actor Liam Neeson, and the aunt of Micheál and Daniel Neeson. She was the niece of the late Lynn Redgrave and the late Corin Redgrave and cousin of actress Jemma Redgrave, who is just five days younger than Richardson. Joely Richardson appeared as an extra at the age of three in the 1968 version of The Charge of the Light Brigade, directed by her father.

Richardson and her sister Natasha's early education began in London at the independent St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. At age 14 Richardson moved to boarding school at the independent Harry Hopman Tennis School in Tampa, Florida. In 1983, she graduated from the Thacher School in Ojai, California, then returned to London to study at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

Possessing an early ambition to become a professional tennis player, she spent two years at a tennis academy in Florida. Richardson then turned to acting. In 1985 she portrayed, via flashbacks, the younger version of the leading character played by her mother in the film Wetherby. After a leading role in Peter Greenaway's cult success Drowning by Numbers (1988), her first major role in front of a mass audience was as Joanna Farley in a 1989 television episode of Poirot, the Agatha Christie based detective series. In a 1989 episode of Jim Henson's The Storyteller, she was cast as a princess. She portrayed a teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the 1989 Channel 4 serial Behaving Badly and fictional Finnish Princess Anna (with "a voice like a Tuba") in the 1991 screen comedy King Ralph.

A year later, she appeared in Shining Through alongside her future brother in law Liam Neeson, where both played Nazis.

In 1993, Richardson appeared in BBC's Lady Chatterley opposite Sean Bean. In 1996, she played fashion designer Anita Campbell-Green in the Disney live-action remake of the animated 101 Dalmatians opposite Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. In 1998, in the popular television drama The Echo, she played Amanda Powell. The next year, she played in the science fiction/horror film Event Horizon as Lieutenant Starck, executive officer of the research and rescue ship Lewis and Clark, sent to rescue crew of the long-lost experimental ship Event Horizon.

One year later, Richardson appeared opposite Mel Gibson in the film The Patriot, an American film based on the American Revolution. Later that year, she was modelling a necklace, when director Charles Shyer noticed her resemblance to doomed 18th century French Queen Marie Antoinette. Thus, she secured the role of that queen in the 2001 film The Affair of the Necklace. Also in 2000, she appeared opposite Hugh Laurie in Maybe Baby, Ben Elton's film adaptation of his book Inconceivable.

In 2003, Richardson took on the role of Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck, based on the lives of two plastic surgeons in Miami. Her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, has appeared in several episodes, playing her character's mother. In November 2006, it was announced that Richardson would be leaving Nip/Tuck to take care of her sick daughter. She last appeared on the show on 14 November, although creator/writer Ryan Murphy wrote alternate season finale episodes, in case Richardson decided to return. Soon after the season finale, it was announced that Richardson would return for the fifth season of Nip/Tuck, though her role may be limited. In June 2007 it was announced that she would return for 15 of the 22 episodes during the fifth season.

In 2005, Richardson starred in Lies My Mother Told Me, based on a true story about a murderous con artist. In 2007, she played the mother in The Last Mimzy with Timothy Hutton and Chris O'Neil. She also starred in the television drama Wallis & Edward, playing the lead role of Wallis Simpson, lover of Edward, Prince of Wales.

Richardson is signed to Models 1.

In 2009-10, Richardson appeared as Catherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII, in the fourth (and final) season of Showtime's hit period drama The Tudors. The role reunited her with her ex-husband Tim Bevan, who was part of the show's production team.

Joely has recently joined the cast of TV series Titanic - Blood and Steel in which she will play the role of Countess Markievicz.

Personal life

Richardson had a much publicised affair with Archie Stirling. She also dated television presenter and actor Jamie Theakston; their relationship ended in 2001. Richardson was also linked to her Nip/Tuck co-star John Hensley.

Richardson is divorced from film producer Tim Bevan. The couple have a daughter, Daisy (b. 1992).

Filmography

List of acting credits in film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	The Charge of the Light Brigade	Extra	Uncredited appearance
1985	Wetherby	Young Jean Travers
1987	Body Contact	Dominique
1988	Drowning by Numbers	Cissie Colpitts 3
1989	Behaving Badly	Serafina
1989	A proposito di quella strana ragazza	Giovanna Serafin (Maria)	Film known as About That Foreign Girl in English
1989	Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Dream	Joanna Farley	TV series
1991	King Ralph	Princess Anna of Finland
1992	Rebecca's Daughters	Rhiannon
	Shining Through	Margrete Von Eberstein
1993	Lady Chatterley	Lady Chatterley
1995	Sister My Sister	Christine	Won Best Actress Valladolid International Film Festival
	I'll Do Anything	Cathy Breslow
1996	Loch Ness	Laura McFetridge
	101 Dalmatians	Anita Campbell-Green Dearly
1996	Hollow Reed	Hannah
1997	Event Horizon	Lt. Starck
1998	Wrestling with Alligators	Claire
	The Tribe	Emily
2000	Maybe Baby	Lucy Bell
	Return to Me	Elizabeth Rueland
	The Patriot	Charlotte Selton
2001	The Affair of the Necklace	Marie-Antoinette
2003	Shoreditch	Butterfly
	Fallen Angel	Katherine Wentworth	Hallmark Channel Christmas Film
2003"2010	Nip/Tuck	Julia McNamara	Main character Nominated " Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Television Series Drama (2004) Nominated " Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Television Series Drama (2005) Nominated " Outstanding Actress in a Series, Drama Satellite Award (2005) Nominated " Best Actress in a Series, Drama Golden Satellite Award (2005) Nominated " Best Actress in a Series, Drama Golden Satellite Awards (2003)
2004	The Fever	Woman at 30
2005	Lies My Mother Told Me	Laren Sims
	Wallis & Edward	Wallis, Duchess of Windsor
2006	Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America	Dr. Iris Varnack
2007	The Last Mimzy	Jo Wilder
	The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey	Susan McDowel
	Freezing	Rachel	TV series
2009	The Day of the Triffids	Jo Playton	TV series
2010	The Tudors	Queen Catherine Parr	(Season 4 and final season)
2011	Anonymous	Young Queen Elizabeth I
	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Anita Vanger/Harriet Vanger
2012	Red Lights	Monica Handsen	post-production
	Thanks For Sharing	TBA	post-production
	Titanic: Blood and Steel	Countess Markievicz	Episode 1.2
	Crooked House	TBA	pre-production Film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Crooked House
2014	Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters	Queen Tatiana Ivashkov	Film adaptation of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy (novel)