Star Neeson back in the spotlight six months after losing wife

Published on Wednesday 12 August 2009 22:07

HOLLYWOOD star Liam Neeson has stepped back into the limelight, appearing at a red carpet event for the first time since the death of his actress wife Natasha Richardson.

Publicists at the New York screening of Neeson's new film, Five Minutes of Heaven, told members of the press all personal questions were off-limits.

The Oscar-nominated star and father of two children with Richardson was asked what his version of heaven would be.

The 57-year-old said it was being with his boys, adding that he was "kind of living it at the moment".

In the film Neeson plays a former member of an outlawed Northern Ireland paramilitary group who is haunted by memories of murder.

Richardson died in hospital in March after suffering a head injury in a skiing accident in Quebec, Canada. The 45-year-old fell during a lesson at the luxury resort of Mont Tremblant.

Richardson had not been wearing a helmet, and initially refused treatment and returned to her hotel room. But after later complaining of an extreme headache, she was taken to two Canadian hospitals before being flown to Manhattan.

A medical examiner later confirmed her death was due to a blunt impact to the head.

Richardson married Neeson at the couple's secluded Millbrook home in 1994, the same year she starred with Jodie Foster in the film Nell. In 1998 she won a Tony award for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in a New York stage revival of the musical Cabaret.