wfn.org | Lynn Redgrave, actor and UCC member, dies at 67

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.org>]

Lynn Redgrave, actor and UCC member, dies at 67

> Written by Barb Powell
> May 3, 2010

Lynn Redgrave, renowned actor and a member of First Congregational Church in 
Kent, Conn.,  died May 2 after a seven-year journey with breast cancer. She was 
67.

"Lynn was loved by the whole community," said the Rev. Melinda Keck, pastor of First 
Congregational. "She always was here when she was in town. She just walked in and stole our 
hearts."

Redgrave joined the congregation not long after her breast cancer surgery in 2003. She was an 
active member of the church, serving on the Stewardship Committee and giving two benefit readings 
of her one-woman shows for the church: an early performance of "Nightingale," which ran 
on Broadway in 2009; and a reading of "Rachel and Juliet," about her mother, Rachel 
Kempson, playing the role of Juliet.

"People loved her for who she was," said Keck. 
"She was a gift and a blessing to us."

Redgrave stirred General Synod audiences in 2007 with the story of her "journey 
through cancerland," as she called it. Her talk intimately detailed the fear and 
loneliness she felt upon being diagnosed with breast cancer, and the role that First 
Congregational played in helping her through that  journey.

"I had not been a church goer ? I didn't come from a church-going family," she told the 
Synod audience. "I happened to hear from a friend of my son that there was a woman minister at 
the First Congregational Church of Kent. At the time, I knew nothing about the UCC, but in my 
vulnerable state, I felt that ? a woman minister ? I would feel safe there."

"I felt so lonely and so afraid, and I felt like a visitor. Then I walked into [the 
church], and Melinda said, 'This is the day the Lord has made,' and I immediately started 
crying!"

Redgrave's presentation at Synod was highlighted by photos documenting her journey 
through cancer surgery and treatment. The photos were taken by Redgrave's daughter, 
Annabel Clark, and are part of Redgrave and Clark's "Journal: A Mother and 
Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancer," released in 2004.

But Redgrave's 2007 presentation also showed her ever-present sense of  humor.

"I go online when I go on tour, and I check out what UCC church I can reach and get 
to the matinee [on time] ? because, like ministers, we actors usually do a matinee on 
Sundays. It's really kind of the same difference, you know?" she said to laughter 
from the house.

"The UCC, and what you believe in ? gives me faith," she told the audience on a more 
serious note. "I said to someone the other night, 'If the UCC ran this country, we'd be ok. 
And I meant it.' "

She showed her love of the UCC in 2006, when she narrated a UCC documentary shown on ABC-TV. 
"Troubled Waters" told the story of the many places in the world that lack access to safe drinking water, and how faith teaches that water is a right given to all.

The Rev. Robert Chase, Founding Director of Intersections International in New York City, produced 
the documentary. He remembered picking up Redgrave for the location shoot. "I had to pick her 
up at her home in Kent to take her to the location in Westchester County, N.Y.," he said. 
"It was about a two-hour drive each way, and the time passed quickly. She was so easy to talk 
to -- really put you at ease right away. It was like we became friends in just those few hours. She 
was such a gentle presence."

Redgrave was the daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and the 
sister of Vanessa Redgrave and the late Corin Redgrave. Her niece, Natasha 
Richardson, died last year.

As part of a British acting dynasty, Redgrave studied at London's Central 
School of Speech and Drama, later working under Noel Coward and Sir Laurence 
Olivier as a member of the National Theatre. Her break came in the 1960s when 
she portrayed the freethinking title character in
"Georgy Girl." She also received critical acclaim for such one-woman stage 
performances as
"Shakespeare for My Father" and "Nightingale," about her grandmother, Beatrice Kempson. 
"Nightingale" was running in Hartford, Conn., during the UCC's 50th Anniversary General Synod in 2007.

Redgrave received 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."

Redgrave loved the United Church of Christ, said Keck, and often told others 
about her church. During her 2007 General Synod address, Redgrave talked about 
all she had learned during her walk with breast cancer, and how much she valued 
the people she had met through her church and her cancer treatments.

Before ending her speech with a poignant reading of the Twenty-Third Psalm, she 
told the audience:

"Now I know that it's not how long I live, but how I live each moment. And how I 
reach out to others."

Lynn Redgrave is survived by six grandchildren, her sister Vanessa, four nieces 
and nephews, and countless friends and fans in the UCC and beyond.