Natasha was 29 at the time, and married to producer Robert Fox. That wasn’t enough to stop the romance from blossoming between her and Liam, though. Her marriage was falling apart, and at the same time, she “fell very much in love” with Liam.
Their chemistry was obvious for everyone present. Luckily for Liam, who was 40 at the time, Natasha’s marriage to Robert was already coming to an end.
When Natasha celebrated her 30th birthday, Liam decided to send her a card from the set of Schindler’s List.
”You’re catching up with me. Lots of love, Oskar.” (Liam played Oskar Schindler in the film.)
But Natasha didn’t find the message as romantic as intended. Instead, she decided it was time to be upfront.
She responded by saying: ”This is like a letter from a buddy. What is our relationship?”
Right then and there, Liam knew he had fallen in love with her.
”That was when I knew I really loved this person,” he said.
”I thought, ‘This is real and genuine and is something that has to be protected.’”
Not long after, in the summer of 1994, the two were married on a farm in upstate New York.
Had two sons together
In 2018, the 63-year-old Taken actor recently appeared on My Favorite Song with John Benjamin Hickey on SiriusXM channel, when he recalled a super sweet moment from his 1994 wedding to Richardson.
Neeson revealed that their wedding song was Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love.”
They had two sons together: Michael born in 1995, followed by Daniel in 1996.
Tragically, Natasha passed away in 2009 at age 45, following a skiing accident in Quebec.
Natasha was taking private skiing lessons in the Mont Tremblant resort when she fell on a beginner’s slope. As Richardson was skiing near Montreal, she fell and took a blow to the head. She was not wearing a helmet.
In the beginning, no one, including Richardson, thought it was severe.
The actress felt okay and against her instructor’s will, she decided to go ahead with her skiing lesson. After a while, the instructor called a ski patrol and wanted medical assistance and an ambulance. But Natalie refused.
However, Natalie and the ski instructor returned to her luxurious Hotel Quintessence room and did checkups to ensure she was okay.
Later, it was revealed that the paramedics who came to the room were turned away. They again recommended she should be seen by a doctor.
Approximately an hour after the incident Mrs. Richardson was not feeling good. An ambulance was called and Mrs. Richardson was brought to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Ste-Agathe and was later trasferred to Hôpital du Sacre-Coeur”.
It turned out that she had suffered serious trauma and it turned out that the impact had left her brain “squashed up against the sided of her skull.”
“I was told she was brain dead. She was on life support and stuff,” Neeson recalled. “And I went in… and told her I loved her. I said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this. You’ve banged your head. It’s – I don’t know if you can hear me, but that’s – this is what’s gone down.’”
In the end, Neeson understood that he had to remove her from life support. On 60 Minutes, he explained that the two had “made a pact” that if either one of them got into a “vegetative state,” they were to “pull the plug.”
Natasha passed away on March 18, 2009. But one comforting thing for Neeson was finding her wife’s organ donor status. He said that her heart, liver, and kidneys went to people in need.
For five years following her tragic death, grief-stricken Liam kept silent, finally opening up in a 2014 episode of 60 Minutes.
”I went in to her and I told her I loved her…”
He went on to tell Anderson Cooper that he hadn’t understood the seriousness of Natasha’s accident.
Liam recalled arriving at the hospital. ”She was on life support”, he said.
At the hospital, Liam was shown Natasha’s X-rays.
Doctors told him that his wife was alive, but was considered to be in a vegetative state. She would never recover, according to the medical professionals.
”I’ve taken a tumble in the snow..”
”I spoke to her and she said, “Oh darling. I’ve taken a tumble in the snow.”
‘That’s how she described it.”
It’s heartbreaking to hear him describe their final moments together.
”I went in to her and told her I loved her. Said, ‘Sweetie, you’re not coming back from this. You’ve banged your head. It’s – I don’t know if you can hear me, but that’s – this is what’s gone down. And we’re bringing ya back to New York. All your family and friends will come”, he said.
And five years after she passed away, Liam was understandably still struggling to come to terms with his loss.
In an interview with Loaded magazine, he said: ”Her death was never real. It still kind of isn’t.”
Looking back at their marriage, one of Liam says one of his favorite things about Natasha was her generous and infectious maternal love.
“She cared for everybody,” he said. “She has a motherly instinct. And she’d make dinners for everyone and just looked looked after us all.”
The couple had consented to be organ donors, and Liam saw that promise through after Natasha’s death.
With her passing, Natasha gave life to three people, even though she left three family members behind whose lives would never be the same again.
”Life is very short”
Now, each year, as their wedding anniversary rolls around, Liam remembers the love they shared.
In 2016, Liam shared a message with fans on social media remembering his late wife. He advised everyone to cherish their partners and make the most of each and every day together.
”We have to stop and be thankful for our spouses. Because, life is very short. Spend time with your spouses. Treat them well. Because, one day, when you look up from your phone, they won’t be there anymore. Live and love (every day) like it’s your last. Because, one day, it will be. Take chances and go live life. Tell the ones you love, that you love them every day.”
Liam could not underline enough that people should not take any moment for granted. “Life is worth living,” he said.
Very true, Liam. Very true indeed.
What beautiful memories he has to cling to, and wonderful life instructions for the rest of us to remember and guide us through our own lives!
13 Celebrities Who Changed Their Real Names Before Becoming Famous
Sometimes we are given names that are either too hard to pronounce or too long to keep in their entirety. And if you are someone with a normal 9-5 job, that is completely fine. But, if you are someone in the entertainment industry who wants your name to be known by everyone, this may not be the best thing. That’s why many people choose to either shorten their full names or completely change them.
1. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus legally changed her name back in 2008 from Destiny Hope Cyrus to Miley Cyrus. The name Miley is a rendition of her childhood nickname “Smiley” in honor of her paternal grandfather.
2. Victoria Beckham
Prior to becoming known as the fashion diva, Victoria Beckham, back in the early days of the iconic group we love, Victoria Adams was the name used for her records. However, when the Spice Girls became rising stars, she changed her name to Posh Spice. Years later, she become the famous Victoria Beckham we know today.
3. Vin Diesel
At the age of 17, Mark Sinclair was a rather big guy. He even used to work as a bouncer at a nightclub called The Tunnel. Around that time he took the name Vin Diesel and started to shave his head regularly.
4. Rachel Weisz
Early in her career, she changed her name to Rachel Vyce, but when people told her that it was too difficult to pronounce, she changed it to Kenya Campbell. She decided to keep it that way for a while, but she soon realized that it sounded unpleasant. The actress then decided to stay with Rachel Weisz and made a lot of iconic movies.
5. Natalie Portman
It was in 1994 when a very young Neta-Lee Hershlag auditioned for Leon and landed her first role in a major production. While filming, the actress changed her name to “Natalie” and took her mother’s maiden last name. Apparently, she wanted to maintain her privacy because some scenes in the movie were polemical.
6. Alicia Keys
Her real name is Alicia Augello-Cook, but she changed it and decided to have her own different stage name with a special meaning behind it. She explained, “It’s like the piano keys, and it can also open a lot of doors,” and she ended up with the name Alicia Keys and broke multiple records in her career.
7. Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop, now known as Jamie Foxx, tried out a couple of different names when he first started doing open mic nights. When he’d sign up to the open mic lists, he used the names Tracy Brown and Stacy Green but eventually landed on Jamie Foxx.
8. Iggy Azalea
Her birth name is Amethyst Amelia Kelly, and she ended up with Iggy Azalea because she has a dog named “Iggy,” and it became her nickname. She came up with the surname Azalea, as she explained, “Because that is a street name that my mom and family live on, and it sounds very feminine, and I thought it would balance out Iggy being so masculine.”
9. Lana Del Rey
The singer’s real name is Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, but she’s now known as Lana Del Rey. When she began singing, she went by the name, “Lizzy Grant,” and also performed as “Sparkle Rope Jump Queen” until she landed on Lana Del Rey.
10. Tom Hardy
Before becoming Tom Hardy, his birth name was Edward Thomas Hardy, and he only used his first name before deciding to go by his middle name instead. Even though the Internet was aware of his true identity, it was not widely publicized.
11. Blake Lively
After Blake became an actress she decided to take the surname of her mother, Elaine Lively as her stage name.
12. Aaron Paul
His full name is Aaron Paul Sturtevant, but when he went to auditions, no one could pronounce his surname, “Sturtevant,” so he had to change it so that everyone could say it, and then he shortened it when he entered Hollywood.
13. Lorde
Lorde changed her original name at the age of 12 when she was signed to a development contract with the Universal Music Group after an agent of theirs saw footage of her singing at a middle school talent show. Her real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor. The royalty hidden in the name Lord encouraged her in changing her original name, but she also added an “e” because she felt that Lord would be too masculine for a girl.
Preview photo credit Laurent VU/SIPA/Sipa Press Russia/East News, mileycyrus / Instagram
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