Joely Richardson

Joely Kim Richardson is a British screen actress known for her roles across television and feature films. She gained widespread recognition for starring as Julia McNamara in the drama series Nip/Tuck, playing Katherine Parr in the historical series The Tudors, and appearing as Ethel Cripps in the series The Sandman. Over her multi-decade career, she has performed in numerous major studio films and television projects.

Born in Marylebone, London, in January 1965, Richardson belongs to the Redgrave acting family. She is the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson, and the granddaughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Her late sister was actress Natasha Richardson, making actor Liam Neeson her brother-in-law. Her extended family includes several other performers, including aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Richardson made her first screen appearance as an uncredited extra at age three in a 1968 movie directed by her father. She initially attended St Paul's Girls' School in London before pursuing a desire to become a professional tennis player by attending a specialized training academy in Florida. After graduating from high school in California in 1983, she shifted her focus back to acting and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, graduating in 1985. That same year, she played a younger version of her mother's character in the film Wetherby.

Her career expanded with a central role in the 1988 film Drowning by Numbers, followed by television appearances on Poirot, The Storyteller, and Behaving Badly. In 1991, she co-starred in the comedy King Ralph and subsequently acted in the drama Shining Through. She later starred in the television miniseries Lady Chatterley, the feature Loch Ness, and portrayed fashion designer Anita Campbell-Green in the 1996 live-action adaptation of 101 Dalmatians. Her late 1990s projects included the sci-fi horror film Event Horizon and the television drama The Echo.

In 2000, Richardson appeared in the historical drama The Patriot and the comedy Maybe Baby, followed by a role in The Affair of the Necklace. Her primary television breakthrough arrived in 2003 when she was cast in FX's Nip/Tuck, a drama series in which her real-life mother also played her character's mother. During this era, she also starred in projects such as Lies My Mother Told Me, Wallis & Edward, and the feature film The Last Mimzy.

Richardson portrayed Henry VIII's sixth wife, Katherine Parr, in the final season of The Tudors and joined the cast of Titanic: Blood and Steel. Her subsequent film credits include Anonymous, the Hollywood adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Endless Love, Maggie, Red Sparrow, The Turning, and the 2023 feature Little Bone Lodge.

In her personal life, Richardson was married to film producer Tim Bevan from 1992 until their 2001 divorce, and they have a daughter, actress Daisy Bevan. Outside of acting, she works as an ambassador for Save the Children and The Children's Trust, a organization supporting children with brain injuries and neurodisabilities.