The family of Natasha Richardson — wife of actor Liam Neeson — today said they were “very concerned” after she suffered a serious head injury while skiing.

The Tony-award actress — a member of the famous thespian Redgrave dynasty — was injured at a resort in Canada yesterday and was later transferred to a Montreal hospital for treatment.

Her Ballymena-born husband, who was filming the movie Chloe in Toronto, flew in to be with his wife following the incident, it was reported.

Kika Markham — wife of Richardson’s uncle, Corin Redgrave, said: “We know that she has had an accident but we really do not know any more details.

“We are very concerned.”

She said that the family wanted to be left alone.

She added: “He (Corin) has got a show tonight. He has had heart problems.”

The 45-year-old daughter of Oscar winning actress Vanessa Redgrave and the late director Tony Richardson was initially taken to a hospital near the luxury Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, before being moved to Montreal’s Sacre Coeur Hospital, Associated Press reported.

Both hospitals and her agent were unable to comment on the accident today.

There have been unconfirmed reports that Richardson is in critical condition and has suffered a serious brain injury.

Richardson married Neeson in 1994 after the pair met on the set of the movie Nell. They have two sons and live in New York.

In 2000 Neeson himself was injured in a motorcycle accident near their New York home. He suffered a broken pelvis after his motorcycle collided with a deer.

His wife, who has accompanied him on trips back home to Northern Ireland, is the grand-daughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, the sister of actress Joely Richardson, and the niece of Lynn Redgrave.

She trained at the city’s Central School of Speech and Drama and has appeared in over 35 films, including The Parent Trap and Maid In Manhattan. Her extensive experience on stage includes a number of Shakespearean roles, among them Ophelia in Hamlet and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In 1986 she won the London Drama Critics’ most promising newcomer award for her performance as Nina in The Seagull alongside her mother.

She also won a Tony award for best actress in a musical for her performance as Sally Bowles in the Mendes production of Cabaret on Broadway in 1998.