MONTREAL - Members of Natasha Richardson’s family gathered at a New York hospital where the Tony-winning actress was reportedly taken with a serious head injury after falling on a Canadian ski slope.

Richardson, 45, part of the Redgrave dynasty of British actors and the wife of Liam Neeson, was flown from Montreal to New York on Tuesday after the accident, a person close to the family, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Richardson’s condition was very serious and her family was highly distressed, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing two people close to her family who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Natasha Richardson has been taken off life support, according to NYC legendary columnist, Liz Smith.

Smith has extremely close ties to the whole Broadway scene and is certainly in a position to know. Smith says as of 1:30 PM ET today, Natasha was taken off life support.

The NATASHA RICHARDSON tragedy has helped save a little Ohio girl, who would have died if her parents hadn't read about the actress' medical drama.
Seven-year-old Morgan MCCracken was hours away from death, two days after she was hit by a baseball during a family game, when her father Donald decided to call doctors for advice after realising his daughter's injury was similar to the one which killed Richardson last week (18Mar09).
Injured Morgan's folks iced a lump that formed on her head and when the swelling subsided and the kid seemed fine they thought nothing of it.
Two days later, she complained of a headache and, after watching the Richardson tragedy unfold, her parents decided not to wait to see if she'd be fine.
The actress died two days after banging her head in a fall during a skiing lesson.
Donald MCCracken tells CNN.com, "Because of Natasha, we called the paediatrician immediately. And by the time I got off the phone with him, Morgan was sobbing, her head hurt so much."