Happy Birthday, Vanessa Redgrave

Arguably the greatest woman in theatre of the past century (she is generally considered the quintessential Rosalind in As You Like It), Redgrave has also had a very successful film career, turning in marvelous performances in such films as Blow-Up, Camelot, Isadora, and Prick Up Your Ears, and almost stealing two films--Julia and Howard's End--in supporting roles.

I fulfilled my lifelong desire to see her on the stage in 2002, when I attended a performance of the Broadway production of O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, which co-starred Brian Dennehy, Robert Sean Leonard, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (currently starring in the acclaimed film, Capote, and whom I considered the weak link in the cast). She was electrifying, and hauntingly beautiful.

Long-time human rights activist Redgrave turned down the Order of the Dame in 1999, endearing her even more to her admirers.