Tall, distinguished star of the English stage and screen, and a stellar member of the generation of British actors which included Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud. A versatile, sensitive and polished actor, Redgrave made a superb screen debut as the musician hero of the classic Hitchcock thriller, "The Lady Vanishes" (1938). He demonstrated a fine talent for comedy, as in Anthony Asquith's "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1952), as well as playing suffering but reserved, upper-class characters in films such as "The Browning Version" (1951; one of his greatest performances)