Lynn Redgrave, Famed British Actress, Dies of Breast Cancer

May 3, 2010— -- British actress Lynn Redgrave, the star of "Georgy Girl" and "Gods and Monsters," has died at the age of 67.

Her publicist Rick Miramontez, speaking on behalf of her children, told The Associated Press that Redgrave died peacefully Sunday night at her Connecticut home surrounded by children Ben, Pema and Annabel.

"Our beloved mother Lynn Rachel passed away peacefully after a seven-year journey with breast cancer," they 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 a member of one of Britain's most celebrated theatrical families. Her death comes a year after her niece Natasha Richardson died from head injuries sustained in a skiing accident, and just a month after the death of her older brother, Corin Redgrave.

In 2003, at the age of 60, Redgrave was first treated for breast cancer. For six months she kept her cancer a secret, receiving treatment at Manhattan's Sloan-Kettering cancer clinic.

Afterward, she released a statement saying, 'Thanks to a series of new and encouraging treatments, I am lucky enough to be cancer-free."

Redgrave was the youngest child of actor-parents Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson.

Thought she never achieved the acclaim of her elder sister, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave did receive 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."

"Vanessa was the one expected to be the great actress," Lynn Redgrave told The Associated Press in 1999. "It was always, 'Corin's the brain, Vanessa the shining star, oh, and then there's Lynn.'"

She was also the aunt of actress Joely Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave's daughter and Natasha Richardson's sister.

In recent years, Redgrave also made appearances in the television shows "Ugly Betty," "Law & Order" and "Desperate Housewives."

Lynn Redgrave Dead at 67

Redgrave was noted for her one-woman stage performances, including the recent "Nightingale," in which she wrote and starred about her troubled past. The show went on even though Redgrave was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness that required her to read from a script for the entire run of the show.

In 1967, Redgrave married actor and director John Clark. The marriage ended in divorce in December 2000 after Redgrave learned that Clark had had an affair and fathered a child with his then-assistant Nicolette Hannah. Hannah would later marry Redgrave and Clark's son Ben and become their daughter-in-law.

Redgrave also acknowledged that she suffered from bulimia and for years served as a spokeswoman for Weight Watchers.

With daughter Annabel Clark, she released a 2004 book about her fight with cancer, "Journal: A Mother and Daughter's Recovery From Breast Cancer."