Actress Lynn Redgrave dies at 67

Film and stage star Lynn Redgrave has died of breast cancer at the age of 67.

"Our beloved mother Lynn Rachel passed away peacefully after a seven-year journey with breast cancer," her children said on Monday.

Her son Ben and daughters Pema and Annabel were with her when she died in Connecticut on Sunday, Redgrave's publicist Rick Miramontez said.

A member of the Redgrave acting dynasty, she is the third member of her family to die in the past year.

She was first treated for breast cancer in 2003.

"She lived, loved and worked harder than ever before. The endless memories she created as a mother, grandmother, writer, actor and friend will sustain us for the rest of our lives," her children's statement read.

A private funeral is expected to be held later this week.

Redgrave's older brother Corin died last month and her niece Natasha Richardson died from head injuries following a skiing accident just over a year ago.

Redgrave spoke at the funeral of her brother, recalling that he had taught her how to climb trees without telling her how to get back down again.

The actress was nominated for two Oscars - once in 1967 for best actress in Georgy Girl and again in 1999 for best supporting actress in Gods and Monsters.

She was the third child of actors Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson - her sister is Vanessa Redgrave.

"Vanessa was the one expected to be the great actress," Lynn Redgrave told the Associated Press in 1999.

"It was always, 'Corin's the brain, Vanessa the shining star, oh, and then there's Lynn."'

Redgrave was awarded an OBE for her services to drama in 2002.

Her stage credits include her one-woman play Shakespeare For My Father, Mrs Warren's Profession and The Constant Wife, which all received Tony nominations.

She has recently appeared in TV shows including Ugly Betty, Law & Order and Desperate Housewives.

In 2004, she released a book with her daughter Annabel Clark about her fight against cancer, titled A Mother and Daughter's Recovery from Breast Cancer.

Tributes have been paid to the actress.

Director Michael Winner, who cast Redgrave in one of her first movies, Shoot To Kill, played tribute to a "wonderful person" and a "phenomenal actress, [who] could do comedy, tragedy - anything really - with absolute ease".

Sir Michael Parkinson said Redgrave was "maybe the jolliest and most likeable of all the family".

"She was a good actress, but being a Redgrave I suppose she couldn't help it - it's in their blood, in their marrow. She had a great comedic talent," he said.

Redgrave is survived by her children, six grandchildren, her sister Vanessa and four nieces and nephews.