Liam Neeson has apparently found love again. Sixteen years after he was widowed, the actor—currently starring in the hit reboot of The Naked Gun—is said to have fallen for the charms of his screen partner, Pamela Anderson. The duo have been making a series of flirty appearances on the red carpets during the film’s promotional tour, sharing cheek-to-cheek kisses and tender declarations of their affection for one another. But this new romance was born of a certain melancholy. While Pamela Anderson, once confided that she had given up on the idea of a love after several unsuccessful marriages, Liam Neeson has not publicly been in a relationship since the tragic death of his wife, Natasha Richardson, in 2009.
Neeson and Richardson met in 1993, while starring in a Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s play Anna Christie. It was love at first sight, leading to their wedding the following year and the birth of two children, Michael and Daniel, in 1995 and 1996. During their happy years, the couple entered Hollywood circles. Natasha appeared in a number of feature films, including The Parent Trap alongside Lindsay Lohan and the romcom Maid in Manhattan, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes. Neeson, meanwhile, was busy with a string of major projects, including Schindler’s List, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Batman Begins, and Taken. But in 2009, tragedy struck when the couple were on a family vacation at a ski resort in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
The actress, then aged 45, fell on a beginners’ ski run. Suffering from a headache, she was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. On March 18, 2009, she succumbed to the consequences of her head injury, which had caused an epidural hematoma.
Following the death of his wife, Liam Neeson sank into depression and alcoholism. I was drinking too much. It started since my wife died. It was like, so easy to just… Never at work, never would do it like that, but this time of night? Sitting with you, I’d easily have—I’d be on my second bottle,” he confided to GQ. The actor was able to overcome his addiction thanks to his devotion to his children. Since March 2009, Neeson has also immersed himself in his work, with over fifty films and series to his credit. Now that list includes The Naked Gun—which, in addition to giving him a new role, has birthed his romance with Pamela Anderson.
Original story in VF France.
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