Update: Natasha Richardson brain dead?

British actress Natasha Richardson’s condition has deteriorated following a skiing accident in Canada, with several reports claiming the wife of Hollywood actor Liam Neeson is brain dead.

The New York Post and Time Out New York are reporting that Richardson has been left brain dead from the accident, both citing sources close to the family. However, entertainment website TMZ.com says Richardson is suffering brain swelling and is not brain dead.

The Post says the 45-year-old award-winning actress has been flown to a New York hospital so that friends and family can say their farewells before she is taken off life support..

British-born Richardson is the wife of Irish actor Liam Neeson, 56, and the daughter of British stage and screen legend Vanessa Redgrave, 72.

“We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details,” Kika Markham, Richardson’s aunt, told the British media. “We are very concerned.”

Markham, who is married to Corin Redgrave, the brother of Vanessa, said the family wanted to be left alone, adding her husband “has had heart problems”.

Neeson, who was in Toronto on a movie set, flew out to be next to his wife, a publicist for the film Chloe told local media.

Richardson has been married to Neeson since 1994 and they have two sons.

In 1998 she won a Tony award in 1998 for her role in the musical Cabaret. She also appeared in the films The Parent Trap, Maid in Manhattan and Evening.

The Redgraves are one of Britain’s most famous stage and screen dynasties.

Vanessa, Corin and their sister Lynn are the children of Rachel Kempson and Michael Redgrave, who played in such British classics as the 1938 The Lady Vanishes and 1969 Goodbye, Mr Chips.

Natasha Richardson’s sister Joely is also an actress, who is currently starring in the television drama Nip/Tuck.