Vanessa Redgrave CBE (born 30 January 1937) is an Oscar, Tony and Emmy Award winning English actress of stage, film and television. She is a member of the Redgrave family, the world-renowned theatrical dynasty. A former Trotskyist and leading member of the Workers' Revolutionary Party, she is also a social activist for human rights and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1995. She made a spectacular stage debut in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on both London's West End and Broadway winning both Tony and Olivier Awards. She has also starred in more than 50 films, including Camelot, The Loves of Isadora, Julia (for which she won the Academy Award), Playing for Time (for which she won an Emmy Award), Mission Impossible and Mrs. Dalloway. She was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th San Sebastian International Film Festival.www.imdb.com/name/nm0000603/awardswww.unicef.org/people/people_vanessa_redgrave.html She is the mother of actresses Joely Richardson and the late Natasha Richardson.

Ancestry and family

Redgrave was born in London, the daughter of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Laurence Olivier announced her birth to the audience for a performance of Hamlet at the Old Vic, when he told them that Laertes played by Sir Michael had a daughter. She was educated at The Alice Ottley School, Worcester & Queen's Gate School, London before "coming out" as a debutante. Her siblings, Lynn Redgrave and the equally outspoken Corin Redgrave, are also acclaimed actors.