Actress critical after ski fall

Richardson won a Tony award in 1998 for Cabaret

Natasha Richardson, the actress wife of Liam Neeson, is in a critical condition in a Montreal hospital after a skiing accident, the BBC has learned.

The 45-year-old suffered head injuries at the resort of Mont Tremblant on Monday. Neeson has flown to her side.

She fell on training slopes on Monday and did not immediately show signs of injury but was taken to hospital an hour later after feeling unwell.

Internet rumours of Richardson's death were untrue said a family spokesperson.

The agent for actress Vanessa Redgrave, Richardson's mother, confirmed that Neeson had left the set of his latest film, Chloe, which is shooting in Toronto, to be with his wife.

Vanessa Redgrave is looking after the couple's two children in New York.

'Very distressed'

The couple married in 1994 after appearing in the film Nell, and have two sons.

A member of Richardson's family, who spoke to the BBC but has asked not to be named, said the whole family was "very distressed" by the incident.

The statement from the Mont Tremblant resort in Canada said the actress "fell in a beginners' trail while taking a ski lesson".

"She was accompanied by an experienced ski instructor who immediately called the ski patrol," it continued.

"She did not show any visible sign of injury but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor."

The actress was later taken to the nearby Centre Hospitalier Laurentien before being transferred to the larger Hopital du Sacre-Coeur.

A spokesperson for the hospital in Montreal could not confirm whether the actress was still there on Tuesday morning, but suggested her family might make a statement on Wednesday.

Part of the Redgrave acting dynasty, Richardson is the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, and the sister of Nip/Tuck star Joely Richardson.

She has starred in a number of Hollywood films and acted opposite an 11-year-old Lindsay Lohan in 1998's The Parent Trap.

But she is better known for her work on the stage, winning a Tony award in 1998 for her starring role in Sam Mendes' Broadway production of Cabaret.