Joely Richardson's Real Name: Joely Kim Richardson

Quick answer: Joely Richardson's documented full name is Joely Kim Richardson. Encyclopedia.com records that form and gives her birth date as January 9, 1965, in London (Encyclopedia.com; BFI Screenonline).

Real name and early life

Encyclopedia.com lists her as the daughter of director Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave, and as the sister of actress Natasha Richardson. BFI Screenonline likewise describes her as the younger daughter of Redgrave and Tony Richardson and as part of the Redgrave acting family. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Encyclopedia.com says, and later became an associate member of the academy. The BFI notes that she first appeared on film as an extra in her father's The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and, after first trying a career as a gymnast, returned as a young adult to play her mother as a girl in David Hare's Wetherby (1985). Encyclopedia.com also identifies her as the niece of actors Lynn Redgrave and Corin Redgrave and as the granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave.

Career highlights

Stage work recorded by the BFI includes the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Old Vic, as well as Connie Chatterley in Ken Russell's television miniseries Lady Chatterley's Lover (1992). Film credits in both accounts include Peter Greenaway's Drowning by Numbers (1988), Sister My Sister (1994), for which Encyclopedia.com lists a Valladolid best-actress award, 101 Dalmatians (1996), and Event Horizon (1997). Encyclopedia.com records a Theatre World Award in 2001 for Madame Melville and Golden Globe nominations in 2004 and 2005 for the television drama Nip/Tuck, which brought her a wider American audience as Julia McNamara. Earlier films listed there also include The Hotel New Hampshire (1984) and The Patriot. In 2002, the BFI says, she costarred with her mother on stage in Lady Windermere's Fan. The same BFI account describes a career that has moved between art-house films, studio pictures, and series television, a range already visible in the credits above.

Encyclopedia.com and the BFI both note her marriage to producer Tim Bevan; they differ on the divorce year, with Encyclopedia.com giving July 12, 2001, and the BFI giving 1997, a conflict this page records rather than resolving. Encyclopedia.com also records that the couple have a daughter, Daisy.

Name notes for searchers

Joely Kim Richardson is the documented full name; she is known professionally as Joely Richardson. Searchers looking for Julia McNamara on Nip/Tuck, for Connie Chatterley in the 1992 BBC adaptation, or for Vanessa Redgrave's younger daughter are usually aiming at the same person.