LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Natasha Richardson , the Tony Award-winning stage actress and member of the famed Redgrave acting clan , died Wednesday from injuries suffered in a ski accident . She was 45 . Comedian Joan Rivers says actress Natasha Richardson had `` such a family . '' On Wednesday night 's `` Larry King Live , '' comedian Joan Rivers remembered Richardson for her marriage to actor Liam Neeson and used her sharp wit to recall her own skiing experience . The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity : . Larry King : You knew Natasha Richardson . What was your reaction ? Joan Rivers : Oh , [ it ] should n't have happened . We were more acquaintances than friends . But we spent one amazing day on a boat with my whole family and she and Liam and the boys . And they were such a family . King : What was the occasion ? Rivers : We were all in the Caribbean , and we all kind of knew each other from dinner parties and so forth . And we met at the airport , and we said , `` Oh , let 's get together , with the kids . '' And it was one of those wonderful days . We laughed and talked and had lunch , and the kids were jumping off the boat and we were drinking wine . She was just amazing and darling . King : Have you seen her work on Broadway ? Rivers : I 've seen her work . I love actresses who go back and forth . I always have such great respect for someone who goes to Broadway and then film and goes back again . I saw her in `` The Philadelphia Story '' years ago in London when she won an award . She was very young in a musical version of that . King : What was your read on them as a couple that day ? Rivers : Totally happy , totally devoted to each other . That 's what kills me . I mean [ it ] just should n't have happened . ... And they made such a good-looking couple , too . He doted on what she said , she doted on -- it was just perfect . King : How did you learn of this yesterday ? Rivers : One of our mutual friends called me and said , do you know about -- I just saw them recently in the thing that Prince Charles gave in England , and a mutual friend said , did you heard about what happened to Natasha ? I said , what are you talking about ? And he said , she 's brain-dead . Watch King talk to celebrities about Richardson » . King : So you knew yesterday ? Rivers : I knew yesterday . And I knew yesterday that she was brain-dead . And I was told , which is , again , so dear , that they kept her alive purposely to bring her back to New York , so that the boys could say goodbye to her before -- . King : Really ? Rivers : Yes . King : That 's both beautiful and sad . Rivers : Look at this , it gets me crazy . It 's sad . King : Do you ski ? Rivers : I had a terrible fall about 12 years ago . And I lay there in the snow and I said to myself , `` If I get up , I 'm not coming back and I got up . '' King : You 're like , `` Goodbye . '' Rivers : Goodbye . And I swear to you , I laid on the ground and I go , `` If everything works , that 's it . That 's it . '' King : You 've heard the doctor . What do you make of this ? There must have been something previously . It was a slight fall ? Rivers : You do n't know ; you hit your head wrong . You walk out of your house and it 's over . We all know that , especially at this age . You understand that it 's over , it 's gone . It 's just not that [ Richardson 's ] age , not with a good marriage , not with two young boys . It should n't be . King : John Kennedy said life is n't fair . Rivers : It is n't . It is n't . And anyone who does n't get up in the morning and say , `` How lucky I am , '' is an idiot .
Joan Rivers says Natasha Richardson and her family sailed in Caribbean together . Stage actress and husband Liam Neeson were `` totally devoted , '' Rivers recalls . The couple had been married for a year when they went on their honeymoon to the Bahamas last year. and it 's over ''