Liam Neeson
Encyclopedia
Liam John Neeson, OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish
actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA
and three Golden Globe Award
s.
He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler
in Schindler's List
, Michael Collins
in Michael Collins
, Peyton Westlake in Darkman
, Jean Valjean
in Les Misérables
, Qui-Gon Jinn
in Star Wars
(the film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
and an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
), Alfred Kinsey
in Kinsey
, Ra's al Ghul
in Batman Begins
and The Dark Knight Rises
as well as the voice of Aslan
in The Chronicles of Narnia
film series
. He has also starred in several other notable films, from major Hollywood studio releases (eg. Excalibur
, The Dead Pool
, Nell
, Rob Roy
, The Haunting
, Love Actually
, Kingdom of Heaven
, Taken
, Clash of the Titans
, The A-Team
, Unknown) to smaller arthouse films (eg. Deception, Breakfast on Pluto
, Chloe
).
He was born in Ballymena
, County Antrim
, Northern Ireland
and educated at Saint Patrick's College, Ballymena Technical College and Queen's University Belfast. He moved to Dublin after university to further his acting career, joining the renowned Abbey Theatre
. In the early 1990s, he moved again to the United States, where the wide acclaim for his performance in Schindler's List led to more high-profile work. He is widowed and lives in New York
with his two sons.
, County Antrim
, Northern Ireland
, and is the son of Katherine Kitty (née
Brown), a cook, and Bernard "Barney" Neeson, a caretaker
at the local Catholic
boys'
primary school (Ballymena Boys All Saints Primary School). He was raised Roman Catholic and was called Liam, Irish for William, after the local priest. He was the third child in the family and the only boy among four siblings; his sisters are Elizabeth, Bernadette, and Rosaline. At age nine, Neeson began boxing
lessons at the All Saints Youth Club, and later became Ulster
amateur senior boxing champion. At age eleven, Neeson first stepped on stage. His English teacher gave him the lead role in a school play, which he accepted because the girl he was attracted to would be starring. From then on, he kept acting in school productions for the following years. His interest in acting and decision to become an actor was also influenced by minister Ian Paisley
, whose church Neeson would sneak into. Neeson has said of Paisley that "He had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch this six foot-plus man just Bible-thumping away... It was acting but it was also great acting and stirring too."
Neeson was enrolled in 1971 as a physics and computer science undergraduate student at Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before leaving to work for Guinness
.
Liam found a talent for football while in University. He was spotted by Seán Thomas
at Bohemian F.C.
. There was a club trial in Dublin. He only played one game as a substitute against Shamrock Rovers and was not offered a contract to continue playing.
to a truck driver. He also attended teacher training college in Newcastle
for two years before again returning to his home town. In 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players' Theatre
in Belfast
where he performed for two years. He got his first film experience in 1977, playing Jesus Christ and Evangelist in the religious film, Pilgrim's Progress directed by Ken Anderson. Neeson moved to Dublin in 1978 after he was offered a part in a production at the Project Arts Centre. The play was Ron Hutchinson's "Says I, Says He", a drama about The Troubles
in Northern Ireland
. Neeson acted in several other Project productions and joined the Abbey Theatre
. In 1980, filmmaker John Boorman
saw him on stage, acting as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men
, and offered him the part of Sir Gawain in the upcoming Arthurian
film, Excalibur
. After Excalibur, Neeson moved to London, where he continued working on stage, small budget films and television series. He lived with the actress Helen Mirren
at this time, whom he met working on Excalibur. Between 1982 and 1987, Neeson starred in five films; most notably alongside Mel Gibson
and Anthony Hopkins
in 1984's The Bounty
and Robert De Niro
and Jeremy Irons
in 1986's The Mission. He also starred as a guest actor in the third season of the television series Miami Vice
in 1986.
In 1987, Neeson made a conscious decision to move to Hollywood in order to star in high-profile roles. That year, he starred alongside Cher
and Dennis Quaid
in Suspect
. The role brought Neeson critical applause, but it was 1990's Darkman
that would bring his name to public attention. Although the film was successful, Neeson's following years would not give him the same recognition. In 1993, he joined Ellis Island co-star and future wife Natasha Richardson
in the Broadway
play Anna Christie
. (They also worked together in Nell
, released the following year.) He recited the Van Morrison song "Coney Island
" on the 1994 Van Morrison tribute album, No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison
. A single was also released with Neeson's version.
Director Steven Spielberg
, impressed by his performance in Nell, offered him the coveted role of Oskar Schindler
in the film about the Holocaust
, Schindler's List
. His critically acclaimed performance later earned him a nomination for a Best Actor
Oscar; however, the award went to Tom Hanks
for his performance in Philadelphia
. Neeson also garnered BAFTA
and Golden Globes
nominations for Schindler's List.
Schindler's List established Neeson as a widely sought-after leading actor
. He later starred in period piece
s Rob Roy
(1995) and Michael Collins
(1996), the latter earning him another Golden Globe nomination and a win for Best Starring Role at the Venice Film Festival
. Neeson went on to star as Jean Valjean
in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo
's Les Misérables
and in The Haunting
(1999) as Dr. David Marrow.
Qui-Gon Jinn
, in director George Lucas
' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
. As it was the first Star Wars
film to be released in over sixteen years, it was surrounded by a large amount of anticipation from the media. Neeson's connection to the Star Wars films started in the Crown Bar, Belfast. Neeson stated to Ricki Lake, "I probably wouldn't have taken the role if it wasn't for the advice of Peter King in the Crown during a Lyric reunion." The Phantom Menace was an enormous box-office success and remains the most financially successful Star Wars film unadjusted for inflation. Qui-Gon's voice, provided by Neeson, would later be heard during a brief scene in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(2002). Qui-Gon was supposed to make an appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
(2005) as a Force Ghost, and Neeson had hinted at involvement. However, he was ultimately unable to appear due to a motorcycle injury, and his character is only mentioned in the film. In 2011, he reappeared as the voice of Qui-Gon in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars
.
for his role opposite Laura Linney
in The Crucible
, Neeson teamed up with Harrison Ford
in Kathryn Bigelow
's submarine thriller K-19: The Widowmaker
(2002) as Captain Mikhail Polenin and appeared in Martin Scorsese
's Gangs of New York
(with Leonardo DiCaprio
, Brendan Gleeson
, Cameron Diaz
and Daniel Day-Lewis
). He also played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis
' ensemble comedy Love Actually
(2003). His role as Alfred Kinsey
in Kinsey
again put Neeson up for nomination for a Golden Globe Award
but he lost out to Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator.
In 2004, Neeson hosted an episode of the NBC
sketch show Saturday Night Live
. He starred as a redneck trucker, Marlon Weaver, in an "Appalachian Emergency Room" sketch and a hippie in a one-off sketch about two stoners (the other played by Amy Poehler
) who attempt to borrow a police dog in order to find their lost stash of marijuana. Despite vowing not to play any characters who were Irish
stereotypes, Neeson did play a stereotypically Irish man named Lorken McArdle in the home makeover show parody "You Call This A House, Do Ya?" In 2005, Neeson played Godfrey of Ibelin
in Ridley Scott
's epic adventure Kingdom of Heaven
, Ra's al Ghul
, one of the main villains in Batman Begins
, and as Father Bernard in Neil Jordan
's adaptation
of Patrick McCabe's novel, Breakfast on Pluto
. Also in 2005, he voiced the role of a kindly priest
on The Simpsons
, who converted Bart
and Homer
to Catholicism. That same year, he gave his voice to the lion Aslan
in the blockbuster fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
. A year later, he narrated the documentary Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity. Following a noticeable lull in his acting career, Neeson starred in the 2008 hit Taken
, which brought his image back into the public eye and resulted in his casting in many more mainstraim Hollywood movies.
In 2007, Neeson starred in the American Civil War
epic Seraphim Falls
alongside Pierce Brosnan
and Anjelica Huston
.
Neeson's voice is featured in the video game Fallout 3
as the main character's father, James. The executive producer of the game, Todd Howard
, said "This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game". Fallout 3, the third game in the Fallout series
, has been extremely well received by critics and shipped 4.7 million copies by the end of 2008, the year it was released.
In the director's commentary of the 2007 Transformers DVD, Michael Bay
said that he had told the animators to seek inspiration from Liam Neeson in creating Optimus Prime's body language
.
Neeson appeared as Alistair Little in the BBC Northern Ireland/Big Fish Films television drama Five Minutes of Heaven
, which tells the true story of a young Protestant man convicted of murdering a Catholic boy during The Troubles
.
He starred in the action film Taken
in 2008, which was a French film also starring Famke Janssen
and Maggie Grace
. It is based on a script by Luc Besson
and Robert Mark Kamen
and was directed by Pierre Morel
. Neeson plays a retired Central Intelligence Agency
operative from their elite Special Activities Division
who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped for sexual slavery while traveling in Europe
. Taken
was a huge worldwide box office hit, grossing $223,882,658 worldwide and making almost $200,000,000 more than its initial budget. He again gave his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
(2008).
Neeson has wrapped filming the psychological thriller After.Life
with Christina Ricci
and Justin Long
. He also provided a voice for Hayao Miyazaki
's anime film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
, which received an August 2009 release.
In 2010, Neeson played the Greek God Zeus
in the remake
of the 1981 film, Clash of the Titans
. The film went on becoming a huge box office hit and grossing $475 million worldwide.
Neeson also starred in the erotic thriller Chloe
, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics
on March 26, 2010. Chloe had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan
's biggest moneymaker ever. Later the same year, he played John "Hannibal" Smith in the spin-off movie
from the TV series The A Team.
In 2010, Neeson voiced the character Aslan
again in the sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
. In late 2010, Neeson stated, "Aslan symbolises a Christlike figure, but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries"; this disappointed many fans of the series, who felt that he was "destroying the author's legacy to be politically correct".
In 2011, Neeson starred in Unknown, a German British American co-production of a French book, it was filmed in Berlin in early 2010. It has been compared to Taken
, which was set in Paris. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film enjoyed box office success in the United States. It was largely funded by Dark Castle entertainment with smaller amounts coming from the Berlin film agency.
He has played several characters based on real people, including Schindler, Collins, and Kinsey.
He was also set to reunite with director Steven Spielberg
and star as Abraham Lincoln
in the film based on the book Team of Rivals
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
. In preparation for the role, Neeson visited Washington, D.C.
, Springfield, Illinois
where Lincoln lived prior to being elected, and read Lincoln's personal letters. He also visited Ford's Theatre
, where the President was shot
. However in July 2010 Neeson said in an interview with GMTV
“I’m not actually playing Lincoln now. I was attached to it for a while, but it’s now I’m past my sell-by date.” He was later replaced in the role by two-time Academy Award winner, Daniel Day-Lewis
.
Director Lee Daniels
has confirmed that Neeson will play former U.S.
president Lyndon B. Johnson
in Daniels' developing film Selma, which is about Martin Luther King, Jr.
, Johnson, and the civil rights
marches.
Neeson also starred as Ben Ryan in the drama Before and After alongside Meryl Streep. This film was about how a family dealt with the aftereffects of a murder their son was accused of committing.
It was announced in July 2010 that Neeson would guest-star on the new Showtime series The Big C
.
It was announced that Liam Neeson would reprise his role as Ra's Al Ghul for the film: The Dark Knight Rises
. (The younger version of his character is played by Josh Pence
.) He narrated the first trailer for the film that was released in July of 2011.
from 3 July 1994 until her death on 18 March 2009, when she suffered a severe head injury
in a skiing
accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort
, in Quebec
. Richardson and Neeson had two sons: Michael and Daniel. Daniel attends Fordham Preporatory School in the Bronx, New York. He is in the graduating class of 2015. Neeson lives in Millbrook, New York
. In August 2004 Neeson and his wife purchased an additional 16 acres next to their estate.
A heavy smoker
earlier in his career, Neeson has since quit smoking
. When he took the role of Hannibal for the 2010 film adaptation
of The A-Team
, Neeson had reservations about smoking cigar
s (which is a signature trait of the Hannibal character) in the film due to being an ex-smoker, but agreed to keep that personality trait of Hannibal intact for the film.
In August 2009, Neeson stated on ABC's Good Morning America
that he had been naturalized
as a United States citizen.
Neeson is a fan of Liverpool F.C.
In March 2011, Neeson was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
of Ballymena' by Ballymena Borough Council, but because of objections made by members of the Democratic Unionist Party
regarding his comments that he had felt like a 'second-class citizen' growing up as a Catholic
in the town, he declined the award, citing tensions. Neeson continues to practice the Catholic
faith and has raised his children as Catholics. He has also expressed admiration for The Spiritual Exercises
of Saint Ignatius Loyola
.
He was appointed as Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in her 1999 New Year's Honours List. The American Ireland Fund
honoured Liam Neeson with their Performing Arts Award for the great distinction he has brought to Ireland at their 2008 Dinner Gala in New York.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
and three Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
s.
He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.He is the subject of the...
in Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
, Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
in Michael Collins
Michael Collins (film)
Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biopic written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival....
, Peyton Westlake in Darkman
Darkman
Darkman is a 1990 superhero action film directed by Sam Raimi. It is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s...
, Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables...
in Les Misérables
Les Misérables (1998 film)
Les Misérables is a 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, directed by Bille August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes....
, Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, and a main protagonist of the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by Liam Neeson. He also appears in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comic books, video games, and novels...
in Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
(the film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
and an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
), Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey...
in Kinsey
Kinsey (film)
Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...
, Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul is a DC Comics supervillain and is one of Batman's greatest enemies. His name in Arabic has been translated in the comics as "The Demon's Head" and references the name of the star Algol. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's...
in Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
and The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises is an upcoming epic superhero film. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight...
as well as the voice of Aslan
Aslan
Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
in The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of English fantasy films from Walden Media that are based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels written by C. S. Lewis...
film series
Film series
A film series is a collection of related films in succession. Their relationship is not fixed, but generally share a common diegetic world. Sometimes the work is conceived as a multiple-film work, for example the Three Colours series, but in most cases the success of the original film inspires...
. He has also starred in several other notable films, from major Hollywood studio releases (eg. Excalibur
Excalibur (film)
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...
, The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool
The Dead Pool is a 1988 American action thriller film about the manipulation of a "dead pool" game by a serial killer, whose efforts are foiled by a hardened detective. It is the fifth and final film in the Dirty Harry series, set in San Francisco, California and starring Clint Eastwood as...
, Nell
Nell (film)
Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...
, Rob Roy
Rob Roy (film)
Rob Roy is a 1995 historical drama film directed by Michael Caton-Jones. Liam Neeson stars as Robert Roy MacGregor, an 18th century Scottish historical figure who battles with feudal landowners in the Scottish Highlands. Jessica Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, and Jason Flemyng also star...
, The Haunting
The Haunting (1999 film)
The Haunting is a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name. Both films are based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont and stars Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor...
, Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
, Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of Heaven (film)
Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic action film directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McKidd, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam...
, Taken
Taken (film)
Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
, Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans (2010 film)
Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy and action remake of the 1981 film of the same name . The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010...
, The A-Team
The A-Team (film)
The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
, Unknown) to smaller arthouse films (eg. Deception, Breakfast on Pluto
Breakfast on Pluto (film)
Breakfast on Pluto is a 2005 comedy-drama film directed by Neil Jordan and based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McCabe, as adapted by Jordan and McCabe...
, Chloe
Chloe (film)
Chloe is a 2009 erotic thriller directed by Atom Egoyan, a remake of the 2004 French film Nathalie.... This version stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried in the title role...
).
He was born in Ballymena
Ballymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and educated at Saint Patrick's College, Ballymena Technical College and Queen's University Belfast. He moved to Dublin after university to further his acting career, joining the renowned Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
. In the early 1990s, he moved again to the United States, where the wide acclaim for his performance in Schindler's List led to more high-profile work. He is widowed and lives in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with his two sons.
Early life
Neeson was born June 7, 1952 in BallymenaBallymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and is the son of Katherine Kitty (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Brown), a cook, and Bernard "Barney" Neeson, a caretaker
Property caretaker
A Property caretaker is a person, group or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations...
at the local Catholic
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
boys'
Single-sex education
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, is the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools. The practice was predominant before the mid-twentieth century, particularly in secondary education and...
primary school (Ballymena Boys All Saints Primary School). He was raised Roman Catholic and was called Liam, Irish for William, after the local priest. He was the third child in the family and the only boy among four siblings; his sisters are Elizabeth, Bernadette, and Rosaline. At age nine, Neeson began boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
lessons at the All Saints Youth Club, and later became Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
amateur senior boxing champion. At age eleven, Neeson first stepped on stage. His English teacher gave him the lead role in a school play, which he accepted because the girl he was attracted to would be starring. From then on, he kept acting in school productions for the following years. His interest in acting and decision to become an actor was also influenced by minister Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
, whose church Neeson would sneak into. Neeson has said of Paisley that "He had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch this six foot-plus man just Bible-thumping away... It was acting but it was also great acting and stirring too."
Neeson was enrolled in 1971 as a physics and computer science undergraduate student at Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before leaving to work for Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
.
Liam found a talent for football while in University. He was spotted by Seán Thomas
Seán Thomas
Seán Thomas was a former Irish football manager who died on 24 June 1999.-Club Management:One of the very first coaches to study for coaching badges Thomas had short spells as coach at Sligo Rovers and Home Farm F.C. before moving to Shamrock Rovers in 1961 for Rovers' tour in the International...
at Bohemian F.C.
Bohemian F.C.
Bohemian F.C. , more commonly referred to as Bohemians, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the third most successful club in League of Ireland football history, having won the League of Ireland title 11...
. There was a club trial in Dublin. He only played one game as a substitute against Shamrock Rovers and was not offered a contract to continue playing.
1978–1999
After leaving university, Neeson returned to Ballymena where he worked in a variety of casual jobs, from a fork-lift operator at GuinnessGuinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
to a truck driver. He also attended teacher training college in Newcastle
Newcastle, County Down
Newcastle is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,444 people recorded in the 2001 Census. The seaside resort lies on the Irish Sea coast at the base of Slieve Donard, one of the Mourne Mountains, and is known for its sandy beach and the Royal County Down Golf Club...
for two years before again returning to his home town. In 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players' Theatre
Lyric Players' Theatre
The Lyric Players' Theatre, more commonly known as The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the main full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The theatre was first established as the Lyric Players in 1951 at the home of its founders Mary and Pearse O’Malley in Derryvolgie Ave.,...
in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
where he performed for two years. He got his first film experience in 1977, playing Jesus Christ and Evangelist in the religious film, Pilgrim's Progress directed by Ken Anderson. Neeson moved to Dublin in 1978 after he was offered a part in a production at the Project Arts Centre. The play was Ron Hutchinson's "Says I, Says He", a drama about The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Neeson acted in several other Project productions and joined the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
. In 1980, filmmaker John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
saw him on stage, acting as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
, and offered him the part of Sir Gawain in the upcoming Arthurian
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
film, Excalibur
Excalibur (film)
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...
. After Excalibur, Neeson moved to London, where he continued working on stage, small budget films and television series. He lived with the actress Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
at this time, whom he met working on Excalibur. Between 1982 and 1987, Neeson starred in five films; most notably alongside Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
and Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
in 1984's The Bounty
The Bounty
The Bounty is a 1984 British historical film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins, and produced by Bernard Williams with Dino De Laurentiis as executive producer. It is the fifth film version of the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. The screenplay was by Robert Bolt...
and Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
in 1986's The Mission. He also starred as a guest actor in the third season of the television series Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
in 1986.
In 1987, Neeson made a conscious decision to move to Hollywood in order to star in high-profile roles. That year, he starred alongside Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
and Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
in Suspect
Suspect (film)
Suspect is a 1987 mystery/courtroom film drama starring Cher, Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson.Other notable cast members include John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna, Fred Melamed, and Philip Bosco...
. The role brought Neeson critical applause, but it was 1990's Darkman
Darkman
Darkman is a 1990 superhero action film directed by Sam Raimi. It is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s...
that would bring his name to public attention. Although the film was successful, Neeson's following years would not give him the same recognition. In 1993, he joined Ellis Island co-star and future wife Natasha Richardson
Natasha Richardson
Natasha Jane Richardson was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson...
in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play Anna Christie
Anna Christie
Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
. (They also worked together in Nell
Nell (film)
Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...
, released the following year.) He recited the Van Morrison song "Coney Island
Coney Island (song)
"Coney Island" is a spoken-word song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1989 album, Avalon Sunset. The narrative is accompanied by lush instrumentation which successfully contrasts with Morrison's thick Ulster brogue. The singer revisits his youthful...
" on the 1994 Van Morrison tribute album, No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison
No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison
No Prima Donna: The Songs of Van Morrison released in October 1994 is the first tribute album for the songs of singer-songwriter Van Morrison. The album was produced by Van Morrison and his friend for many years, Phil Coulter. Morrison's longtime girlfriend, Michelle Rocca was the model on the...
. A single was also released with Neeson's version.
Director Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, impressed by his performance in Nell, offered him the coveted role of Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.He is the subject of the...
in the film about the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
. His critically acclaimed performance later earned him a nomination for a Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Oscar; however, the award went to Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
for his performance in Philadelphia
Philadelphia (film)
Philadelphia is a 1993 American drama film that was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia. It was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. The film stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington...
. Neeson also garnered BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
and Golden Globes
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nominations for Schindler's List.
Schindler's List established Neeson as a widely sought-after leading actor
Leading actor
A leading actor, leading actress, star, or simply lead, plays the role of the protagonist in a film or play. The word lead may also refer to the largest role in the piece and leading actor may refer to a person who typically plays such parts or an actor with a respected body of work...
. He later starred in period piece
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
s Rob Roy
Rob Roy (film)
Rob Roy is a 1995 historical drama film directed by Michael Caton-Jones. Liam Neeson stars as Robert Roy MacGregor, an 18th century Scottish historical figure who battles with feudal landowners in the Scottish Highlands. Jessica Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, and Jason Flemyng also star...
(1995) and Michael Collins
Michael Collins (film)
Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biopic written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival....
(1996), the latter earning him another Golden Globe nomination and a win for Best Starring Role at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. Neeson went on to star as Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables...
in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's Les Misérables
Les Misérables (1998 film)
Les Misérables is a 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, directed by Bille August. It stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes....
and in The Haunting
The Haunting (1999 film)
The Haunting is a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name. Both films are based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont and stars Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor...
(1999) as Dr. David Marrow.
Star Wars
In 1999, Neeson starred as Jedi MasterJedi
The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...
Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, and a main protagonist of the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by Liam Neeson. He also appears in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comic books, video games, and novels...
, in director George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
. As it was the first Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
film to be released in over sixteen years, it was surrounded by a large amount of anticipation from the media. Neeson's connection to the Star Wars films started in the Crown Bar, Belfast. Neeson stated to Ricki Lake, "I probably wouldn't have taken the role if it wasn't for the advice of Peter King in the Crown during a Lyric reunion." The Phantom Menace was an enormous box-office success and remains the most financially successful Star Wars film unadjusted for inflation. Qui-Gon's voice, provided by Neeson, would later be heard during a brief scene in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
(2002). Qui-Gon was supposed to make an appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
(2005) as a Force Ghost, and Neeson had hinted at involvement. However, he was ultimately unable to appear due to a motorcycle injury, and his character is only mentioned in the film. In 2011, he reappeared as the voice of Qui-Gon in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
.
2001–present
Neeson narrated the 2001 documentaries Journey Into Amazing Caves and The Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. After being nominated for a Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for his role opposite Laura Linney
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
in The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
, Neeson teamed up with Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
in Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...
's submarine thriller K-19: The Widowmaker
K-19: The Widowmaker
K-19: The Widowmaker is a movie released on July 19, 2002, about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine of the same name. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow...
(2002) as Captain Mikhail Polenin and appeared in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(with Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, Brendan Gleeson
Brendan Gleeson
Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor. His best-known films include Braveheart, Gangs of New York, In Bruges, 28 Days Later, the Harry Potter films, The Guard and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty...
, Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
and Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
). He also played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
' ensemble comedy Love Actually
Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
(2003). His role as Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey...
in Kinsey
Kinsey (film)
Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...
again put Neeson up for nomination for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
but he lost out to Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator.
In 2004, Neeson hosted an episode of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sketch show Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. He starred as a redneck trucker, Marlon Weaver, in an "Appalachian Emergency Room" sketch and a hippie in a one-off sketch about two stoners (the other played by Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler
Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
) who attempt to borrow a police dog in order to find their lost stash of marijuana. Despite vowing not to play any characters who were Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
stereotypes, Neeson did play a stereotypically Irish man named Lorken McArdle in the home makeover show parody "You Call This A House, Do Ya?" In 2005, Neeson played Godfrey of Ibelin
Barisan of Ibelin
Barisan of Ibelin was an important figure in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and was the founder of the Ibelin family. His name was later written as "Balian" and he is sometimes known as Balian the Elder or Balian I....
in Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's epic adventure Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of Heaven (film)
Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic action film directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McKidd, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam...
, Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul is a DC Comics supervillain and is one of Batman's greatest enemies. His name in Arabic has been translated in the comics as "The Demon's Head" and references the name of the star Algol. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's...
, one of the main villains in Batman Begins
Batman Begins
Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,...
, and as Father Bernard in Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...
's adaptation
Breakfast on Pluto (film)
Breakfast on Pluto is a 2005 comedy-drama film directed by Neil Jordan and based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McCabe, as adapted by Jordan and McCabe...
of Patrick McCabe's novel, Breakfast on Pluto
Breakfast on Pluto
Breakfast on Pluto is a 1998 novel by Patrick McCabe. The book was shortlisted for the 1998 Booker Prize, and was adapted for the screen by McCabe and Neil Jordan; Jordan directed the 2005 film.-Plot summary:...
. Also in 2005, he voiced the role of a kindly priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
on The Simpsons
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star
"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" is the last episode of The Simpsons sixteenth season. The episode aired on May 15, 2005 in the United States. Originally supposed to air April 10, the episode was dropped from the week's schedule due to the death of Pope John Paul II, since this...
, who converted Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
to Catholicism. That same year, he gave his voice to the lion Aslan
Aslan
Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
in the blockbuster fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Andrew Adamson and based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of...
. A year later, he narrated the documentary Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity. Following a noticeable lull in his acting career, Neeson starred in the 2008 hit Taken
Taken (film)
Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
, which brought his image back into the public eye and resulted in his casting in many more mainstraim Hollywood movies.
In 2007, Neeson starred in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
epic Seraphim Falls
Seraphim Falls
Seraphim Falls is a 2007 American Revisionist Western film directed by television producer and director David Von Ancken in his first feature film. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Von Ancken and Abby Everett Jaques. The fictional story focuses on a bounty hunt for a Union...
alongside Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
and Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
.
Neeson's voice is featured in the video game Fallout 3
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
as the main character's father, James. The executive producer of the game, Todd Howard
Todd Howard
Todd Howard is an American designer, director, and producer. He is currently Game Director and Executive Producer for Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the creation of Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls video game series. GamePro magazine named him to the Top 20 Most Influential People in Gaming...
, said "This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game". Fallout 3, the third game in the Fallout series
Fallout series
Fallout is a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing games published by Interplay Entertainment and later by Bethesda Softworks. Although the series is set during the 22nd and 23rd centuries, its retrofuturistic story and artwork are influenced by the post-war culture of 1950s America, and its...
, has been extremely well received by critics and shipped 4.7 million copies by the end of 2008, the year it was released.
In the director's commentary of the 2007 Transformers DVD, Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
said that he had told the animators to seek inspiration from Liam Neeson in creating Optimus Prime's body language
Body language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....
.
Neeson appeared as Alistair Little in the BBC Northern Ireland/Big Fish Films television drama Five Minutes of Heaven
Five Minutes of Heaven
Five Minutes of Heaven is a British/Irish film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a script by Guy Hibbert. The film was premiered on January 19, 2009 at the 25th Sundance Film Festival...
, which tells the true story of a young Protestant man convicted of murdering a Catholic boy during The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
.
He starred in the action film Taken
Taken (film)
Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
in 2008, which was a French film also starring Famke Janssen
Famke Janssen
Famke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series .- Early life and education :...
and Maggie Grace
Maggie Grace
Margaret Grace Denig , best known as Maggie Grace, is an American actress. Originally from Worthington, Ohio, she dropped out of high school to move to Los Angeles with her mother after her parents' divorce. While struggling financially, she landed her first role as the title character in the...
. It is based on a script by Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
and Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen
Robert Mark Kamen is a screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over twenty-five years. He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and Transporter franchises, as well as the 2009 action thriller Taken....
and was directed by Pierre Morel
Pierre Morel
-Movie career:After spending his formative years in cinema school, Pierre Morel debuted in 2000 as camera operator with the first Richard Berry's film L'Art de la séduction....
. Neeson plays a retired Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operative from their elite Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped for sexual slavery while traveling in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Taken
Taken (film)
Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
was a huge worldwide box office hit, grossing $223,882,658 worldwide and making almost $200,000,000 more than its initial budget. He again gave his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 epic fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published, fourth chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the second in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The...
(2008).
Neeson has wrapped filming the psychological thriller After.Life
After.Life
After.Life is a 2009 American science fiction horror film starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci and Justin Long, directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay.-Plot:...
with Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
and Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
. He also provided a voice for Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
's anime film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
, initially titled in English as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. It is Miyazaki's eighth film for Ghibli, and his tenth overall...
, which received an August 2009 release.
In 2010, Neeson played the Greek God Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
in the remake
Clash of the Titans (2010 film)
Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy and action remake of the 1981 film of the same name . The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010...
of the 1981 film, Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans (1981 film)
Clash of the Titans is an American 1981 fantasy–adventure film involving the Greek hero Perseus. It was released on June 12, 1981 and earned a gross profit of $41 million domestically, on a $15 million budget , by which it was the 11th highest grossing film of the year. A novelization of the film...
. The film went on becoming a huge box office hit and grossing $475 million worldwide.
Neeson also starred in the erotic thriller Chloe
Chloe (film)
Chloe is a 2009 erotic thriller directed by Atom Egoyan, a remake of the 2004 French film Nathalie.... This version stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried in the title role...
, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
on March 26, 2010. Chloe had enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
's biggest moneymaker ever. Later the same year, he played John "Hannibal" Smith in the spin-off movie
The A-Team (film)
The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
from the TV series The A Team.
In 2010, Neeson voiced the character Aslan
Aslan
Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books...
again in the sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 3D fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia . It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media...
. In late 2010, Neeson stated, "Aslan symbolises a Christlike figure, but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries"; this disappointed many fans of the series, who felt that he was "destroying the author's legacy to be politically correct".
In 2011, Neeson starred in Unknown, a German British American co-production of a French book, it was filmed in Berlin in early 2010. It has been compared to Taken
Taken (film)
Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
, which was set in Paris. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film enjoyed box office success in the United States. It was largely funded by Dark Castle entertainment with smaller amounts coming from the Berlin film agency.
He has played several characters based on real people, including Schindler, Collins, and Kinsey.
He was also set to reunite with director Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
and star as Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
in the film based on the book Team of Rivals
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is a book by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin published in 2005. The book is a biographical portrait of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and some of the men who served with him in his Cabinet from 1861 to 1865...
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American biographer and historian, and an oft-seen political commentator. She is the author of biographies of several U.S...
. In preparation for the role, Neeson visited Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
where Lincoln lived prior to being elected, and read Lincoln's personal letters. He also visited Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a historic theater in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865...
, where the President was shot
Abraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
. However in July 2010 Neeson said in an interview with GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
“I’m not actually playing Lincoln now. I was attached to it for a while, but it’s now I’m past my sell-by date.” He was later replaced in the role by two-time Academy Award winner, Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
.
Director Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels
Lee Louis Daniels is an American actor, film producer, and director. He produced Monster's Ball and directed the film Precious, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards.-Early years:Daniels was born on Christmas Eve, 1959, in...
has confirmed that Neeson will play former U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
president Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
in Daniels' developing film Selma, which is about Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, Johnson, and the civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
marches.
Neeson also starred as Ben Ryan in the drama Before and After alongside Meryl Streep. This film was about how a family dealt with the aftereffects of a murder their son was accused of committing.
It was announced in July 2010 that Neeson would guest-star on the new Showtime series The Big C
The Big C (TV series)
The Big C is a Showtime original television series created by Darlene Hunt which premiered on August 16, 2010. It drew the largest audience for a Showtime original series premiere in eight years. On September 20, 2010, The Big C was renewed for a second season which premiered on June 27, 2011...
.
It was announced that Liam Neeson would reprise his role as Ra's Al Ghul for the film: The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises is an upcoming epic superhero film. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film will be the third and final installment in Nolan's Batman film series, and is a sequel to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight...
. (The younger version of his character is played by Josh Pence
Josh Pence
Joshua Charles "Josh" Pence is an American actor, best known for playing Tyler Winklevoss in the 2010 film The Social Network.-Life and career:...
.) He narrated the first trailer for the film that was released in July of 2011.
Personal life
Neeson was married to actress Natasha RichardsonNatasha Richardson
Natasha Jane Richardson was an English actress of stage and screen. A member of the Redgrave family, she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson...
from 3 July 1994 until her death on 18 March 2009, when she suffered a severe head injury
Traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...
in a skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort
Mont Tremblant Resort
Mont Tremblant Ski Resort is a year-round resort in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec, Canada, about 130 km northwest of Montreal. It is best known as a ski destination, but also features a lake suitable for swimming and two golf courses in the summer months...
, in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Richardson and Neeson had two sons: Michael and Daniel. Daniel attends Fordham Preporatory School in the Bronx, New York. He is in the graduating class of 2015. Neeson lives in Millbrook, New York
Millbrook, New York
Millbrook is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is often said to be a "low-key version of the Hamptons" and one of the wealthiest towns in New York State. Millbrook's estimated town population was 1,551 in 2008. Millbrook is located in the Hudson Valley, an hour and thirty...
. In August 2004 Neeson and his wife purchased an additional 16 acres next to their estate.
A heavy smoker
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
earlier in his career, Neeson has since quit smoking
Smoking cessation
Smoking cessation is the process of discontinuing the practice of inhaling a smoked substance. This article focuses exclusively on cessation of tobacco smoking; however, the methods described may apply to cessation of smoking other substances that can be difficult to stop using due to the...
. When he took the role of Hannibal for the 2010 film adaptation
The A-Team (film)
The A-Team is an American action film based on the television series of the same name. It was released in cinemas in the United States on June 11, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Joe Carnahan and produced by Stephen J. Cannell and the Scott brothers Ridley and Tony...
of The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
, Neeson had reservations about smoking cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s (which is a signature trait of the Hannibal character) in the film due to being an ex-smoker, but agreed to keep that personality trait of Hannibal intact for the film.
In August 2009, Neeson stated on ABC's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
that he had been naturalized
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
as a United States citizen.
Neeson is a fan of Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
In March 2011, Neeson was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.
Honours and awards
Neeson was offered the 'Freedom of the TownFreedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of Ballymena' by Ballymena Borough Council, but because of objections made by members of the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
regarding his comments that he had felt like a 'second-class citizen' growing up as a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
in the town, he declined the award, citing tensions. Neeson continues to practice the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith and has raised his children as Catholics. He has also expressed admiration for The Spiritual Exercises
Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, are a set of Christian meditations, prayers and mental exercises, divided into four thematic 'weeks' of variable length, designed to be carried out over a period of 28 to 30 days...
of Saint Ignatius Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
.
He was appointed as Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in her 1999 New Year's Honours List. The American Ireland Fund
The American Ireland Fund
The American Ireland Fund is an organization that raises funds for the support of peace and reconciliation, community development, education, arts and culture in Ireland. Since its founding it has raised more than US $250 million...
honoured Liam Neeson with their Performing Arts Award for the great distinction he has brought to Ireland at their 2008 Dinner Gala in New York.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pilgrim's Progress | Evangelist and Jesus Christ | |
| 1979 | Christiana | Greatheart | |
| 1981 | Excalibur Excalibur (film) Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner... |
Gawain Gawain Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight... |
|
| 1982 | Merlin and the Sword | Grak | alternate title Arthur the King |
| 1983 | Krull Krull (film) Krull is a 1983 heroic fantasy film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Ron Silverman. Released by Columbia Pictures, it stars Ken Marshall as Prince Colwyn and Lysette Anthony as Princess Lyssa.... |
Kegan | |
| 1984 | Charles Churchill | ||
| 1984 | Ellis Island | Kevin Murray | Television miniseries |
| 1985 | Lamb Lamb (film) Lamb is a 1985 English drama film, directed by Colin Gregg and starring Liam Neeson, Hugh O'Conor and Ian Bannen. The film is based on the novel by Bernard MacLaverty, who also wrote the screenplay.-Plot:... |
Michael Lamb | |
| 1986 | Fielding | ||
| 1986 | Duet for One Duet for One Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky... |
Totter | |
| 1987 | Suspect Suspect (film) Suspect is a 1987 mystery/courtroom film drama starring Cher, Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson.Other notable cast members include John Mahoney, Joe Mantegna, Fred Melamed, and Philip Bosco... |
Carl Anderson | |
| 1987 | Liam Docherty | ||
| 1988 | Satisfaction Satisfaction (film) Satisfaction is a 1988 drama starring Justine Bateman and Liam Neeson. It is one of the few theatrical productions by both Aaron Spelling and NBC.-Plot:... |
Martin Falcon | |
| 1988 | High Spirits High Spirits (film) High Spirits is a 1988 "comedy" film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah, Beverly D'Angelo and Peter O'Toole.Set in a remote Irish castle called Dromore Castle, Co... |
Martin Brogan | |
| 1988 | Peter Swan | ||
| 1988 | Leo Cutter | ||
| 1989 | Next of Kin Next of Kin (1989 film) Next of Kin is a 1989 American action film directed by John Irvin and starring Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson. The screenplay was based on a story of the same title, both written by Michael Jenning.-Plot:... |
Briar Gates | |
| 1990 | Darkman Darkman Darkman is a 1990 superhero action film directed by Sam Raimi. It is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s... |
Peyton Westlake/Darkman | Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
| 1990 | Danny Scoular | ||
| 1991 | Under Suspicion Under Suspicion (1991 film) Under Suspicion is a 1991 film directed by Simon Moore. It stars Liam Neeson and Laura San Giacomo. Neeson won best actor at the 1992 Festival du Film Policier de Cognac for his performance... |
Tony Aaron | |
| 1992 | Husbands and Wives Husbands and Wives Husbands and Wives is a 1992 American drama film directed and written by Woody Allen. The films stars Allen, Mia Farrow, Sydney Pollack, Judy Davis, Juliette Lewis, Liam Neeson and Blythe Danner. It was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Writing,... |
Michael Gates | |
| 1992 | Leap of Faith Leap of Faith (film) Leap of Faith is a 1992 American dramedy film, directed by Richard Pearce and starring Steve Martin, Liam Neeson and Debra Winger. The film is about Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent Christian faith healer who uses his revival meetings, in Rustwater, Kansas, to bilk believers out of their money.-Plot... |
Will | |
| 1992 | Shining Through Shining Through Shining Through is a 1992 British-American World War II film drama, directed and written by David Seltzer and starring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith, with Liam Neeson, Joely Richardson and John Gielgud in supporting roles. Although based on the novel of the same name by Susan Isaacs, the... |
Franz-Otto Dietrich | |
| 1993 | Ethan Frome Ethan Frome (film) Ethan Frome is a 1993 British-American drama film directed by John Madden and starring Liam Neeson, Patricia Arquette and Tate Donovan. It was an adaptation of the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.-Partial cast:* Liam Neeson - Ethan Frome... |
Ethan Frome | |
| 1993 | Ruby Cairo Ruby Cairo Ruby Cairo is a 1993 film directed by Graeme Clifford. The soundtrack features music by John Barry and the song You Belong to Me performed by Patsy Cline.-Plot:... |
Dr. Fergus Lamb | released on video as Deception |
| 1993 | Schindler's List Schindler's List Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark... |
Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.He is the subject of the... |
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year in an annual award given by the London Film Critics Circle.-2000s:-2010s:... |
| 1994 | Nell Nell (film) Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by... |
Dr. Jerome 'Jerry' Lovell | |
| 1995 | Rob Roy Rob Roy (film) Rob Roy is a 1995 historical drama film directed by Michael Caton-Jones. Liam Neeson stars as Robert Roy MacGregor, an 18th century Scottish historical figure who battles with feudal landowners in the Scottish Highlands. Jessica Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, and Jason Flemyng also star... |
Robert Roy MacGregor Robert Roy MacGregor Robert Roy MacGregor , usually known simply as Rob Roy or alternately Red MacGregor, was a famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century, who is sometimes known as the Scottish Robin Hood. Rob Roy is anglicised from the Scottish Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, or Red Robert... |
|
| 1996 | Michael Collins Michael Collins (film) Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biopic written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as General Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.... |
Michael Collins Michael Collins (Irish leader) Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the... |
Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor Volpi Cup Volpi Cup The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1996 | Before and After | Ben Ryan | |
| 1998 | Jean Valjean Jean Valjean Jean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables... |
||
| 1998 | Everest Everest (film) Everest is a 70mm American documentary film from MacGillivray Freeman Films about the struggles involved in climbing Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak on Earth located in Himalayan region of Nepal. It was released to IMAX theaters in 1998.... |
Narrator | |
| 1999 | Dr. David Marrow | ||
| 1999 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms... |
Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, and a main protagonist of the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by Liam Neeson. He also appears in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comic books, video games, and novels... |
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
| 2000 | Gun Shy Gun Shy (film) -Plot:Charlie Mayeaux is an undercover DEA agent suffering from anxiety and gastrointestinal problems after a bust gone wrong. During the aforementioned incident, his partner was killed and he found himself served up on a platter of watermelon with a gun shoved in his face just before back-up... |
Charlie Mayo | |
| 2000 | Narrator | ||
| 2001 | Journey into Amazing Caves | Narrator | |
| 2002 | K-19: The Widowmaker K-19: The Widowmaker K-19: The Widowmaker is a movie released on July 19, 2002, about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine of the same name. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow... |
Mikhail Polenin | |
| 2002 | Gangs of New York Gangs of New York Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New... |
'Priest' Vallon | |
| 2002 | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology... |
Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, and a main protagonist of the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by Liam Neeson. He also appears in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comic books, video games, and novels... |
voice only, uncredited |
| 2002 | Evolution: What About God? | Narrator | |
| 2003 | Love Actually Love Actually Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress... |
Daniel | Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast is an annual award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.-2000s:*2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring... |
| 2003 | Coral Reef Adventure Coral Reef Adventure Coral Reef Adventure is a 70mm American documentary film released in 2003 to IMAX theaters. It is narrated by actor Liam Neeson, and directed by Greg MacGillivray.... |
Narrator | |
| 2004 | Kinsey Kinsey (film) Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate... |
Alfred Kinsey Alfred Kinsey Alfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey... |
Irish Film Awards – Best Actor Film Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male Nominated — London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actor of the Year Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama is an annual award given by the International Press Academy as one of its Satellite Awards.- 1996–1999 :- 2000–2009 :-2010–2019:... Nominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an annual award given by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.-2000s:-2010s:... |
| 2005 | Father Sean | voice Voice acting Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called... ("The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" is the last episode of The Simpsons sixteenth season. The episode aired on May 15, 2005 in the United States. Originally supposed to air April 10, the episode was dropped from the week's schedule due to the death of Pope John Paul II, since this... ") |
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| 2005 | Kingdom of Heaven Kingdom of Heaven (film) Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic action film directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McKidd, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam... |
Godfrey of Ibelin Barisan of Ibelin Barisan of Ibelin was an important figure in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, and was the founder of the Ibelin family. His name was later written as "Balian" and he is sometimes known as Balian the Elder or Balian I.... |
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| 2005 | Batman Begins Batman Begins Batman Begins is a 2005 American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson,... |
Henri Ducard Henri Ducard Henri Ducard is a fictional character in the Batman comic book universe. Created by Sam Hamm, Ducard's first appearance was in Detective Comics #599 , part of the "Blind Justice" story arc... /Ra's al Ghul Ra's al Ghul Ra's al Ghul is a DC Comics supervillain and is one of Batman's greatest enemies. His name in Arabic has been translated in the comics as "The Demon's Head" and references the name of the star Algol. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's... |
Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2005 | Breakfast on Pluto Breakfast on Pluto (film) Breakfast on Pluto is a 2005 comedy-drama film directed by Neil Jordan and based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McCabe, as adapted by Jordan and McCabe... |
Father Liam | |
| 2005 | Aslan Aslan Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books... |
voice | |
| 2006 | Home Home (2006 film) Home is a 2006 documentary by Irish filmmaker Alan Cooke about notable residents of New York City.-Cast:*David Amram*Alan Cooke*Armand DiMele*Pete Hamill*Elaine Kaufman *Fran Lebowitz*Frank McCourt... |
Himself | |
| 2007 | Seraphim Falls Seraphim Falls Seraphim Falls is a 2007 American Revisionist Western film directed by television producer and director David Von Ancken in his first feature film. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Von Ancken and Abby Everett Jaques. The fictional story focuses on a bounty hunt for a Union... |
Carver | |
| 2007 | Narrator | ||
| 2008 | Aslan Aslan Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books... |
voice | |
| 2008 | Peter | ||
| 2008 | Fallout 3 Fallout 3 Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360... |
James (Dad) | Video game (voice) |
| 2008 | Taken Taken (film) Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel... |
Bryan Mills | |
| 2009 | Five Minutes of Heaven Five Minutes of Heaven Five Minutes of Heaven is a British/Irish film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a script by Guy Hibbert. The film was premiered on January 19, 2009 at the 25th Sundance Film Festival... |
Alistair Little | Nominated — Irish Film & Television Award for Actor in a Lead Role (Television) |
| 2009 | Ponyo Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea , initially titled in English as Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. It is Miyazaki's eighth film for Ghibli, and his tenth overall... |
Fujimoto | voice (English dub; original Japanese version 2008) |
| 2009 | After.Life After.Life After.Life is a 2009 American science fiction horror film starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci and Justin Long, directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay.-Plot:... |
Eliot | |
| 2009 | Chloe Chloe (film) Chloe is a 2009 erotic thriller directed by Atom Egoyan, a remake of the 2004 French film Nathalie.... This version stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried in the title role... |
David | |
| 2010 | Clash of the Titans Clash of the Titans (2010 film) Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy and action remake of the 1981 film of the same name . The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010... |
Zeus Zeus In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus... |
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| 2010 | Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity | Narrator Narrator A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for... |
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| 2010 | John "Hannibal" Smith | ||
| 2010 | Aslan Aslan Aslan, the "Great Lion," is the central character in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. He is the eponymous lion of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books... |
voice | |
| 2010 | Damon Pennington | ||
| 2010 | Narrator | ||
| 2011 | Unknown | Dr. Martin Harris | |
| 2011 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series) -Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve... |
Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn Qui-Gon Jinn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, and a main protagonist of the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by Liam Neeson. He also appears in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of comic books, video games, and novels... |
Special Guest Voice, Season Three episodes Overlords and Ghosts of Mortis |
| 2011 | Life's Too Short Life's Too Short Life's Too Short is an observational sitcom series, created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, from an idea by Warwick Davis, and is described by Gervais as being about "the life of a showbiz dwarf", with Davis playing a fictionalised version of himself. Gervais and Merchant appear... |
Himself | Cameo appearance |
| 2012 | Ottoway | post-production | |
| 2012 | Wrath of the Titans Wrath of the Titans Wrath of the Titans is an upcoming fantasy film and sequel to the 2010 film, Clash of the Titans. The film stars Sam Worthington, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Danny Huston, Édgar Ramírez, Bill Nighy, Toby Kebbell and Rosamund Pike with Jonathan Liebesman directing a screenplay by Dan Mazeau, David... |
Zeus | post-production |
| 2012 | Battleship Battleship (film) Battleship is an upcoming 2012 science fiction naval war film based on the game of the same name. The film is being directed by Peter Berg and will be released by Universal Pictures... |
Admiral Shane | post-production |
| 2012 | Ra's al Ghul Ra's al Ghul Ra's al Ghul is a DC Comics supervillain and is one of Batman's greatest enemies. His name in Arabic has been translated in the comics as "The Demon's Head" and references the name of the star Algol. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, he was introduced in Batman #232's... |
filming | |
| 2012 | Taken II | Bryan Mills | filming |