Liam Neeson

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Liam Neeson
Neeson at the TIFF premiere of The Other Man, September 7, 2008
Born	William John Neeson 7 June 1952 (1952-06-07) (age 57) Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Natasha Richardson (1994–2009) (deceased)

William John "Liam" Neeson, OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish actor^[1] known for his roles as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia film series. He has also starred in several other blockbusters, including Darkman, Rob Roy, Kingdom of Heaven, Batman Begins and Taken. He has played several characters based on real people, including Oskar Schindler, Michael Collins and Alfred Kinsey, and is set to play U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in a 2011 Steven Spielberg-directed biographical film based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.^[2]

Early life

Neeson was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the son of Katherine "Kitty" (née Brown), a cook, and Barnard Neeson, a caretaker at the local Catholic boy's primary school.^[3] He was called Liam, Irish for William, after the local priest.^[4] He was the third child in the family and the only boy among four siblings; his sisters are Elizabeth, Bernadette and Rosaline.^[5] At age nine, Neeson began boxing lessons at the All Saints Youth Club, and later became Ulster amateur senior boxing champion.^[6] It was at age eleven that Neeson first stepped on stage. His English teacher gave him the lead role in a school play, which he accepted because the girl he fancied would be starring.^[7] From then on, he kept acting in school productions for the following years.^[8] His interest in acting and decision to become an actor was also influenced by 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. And his Baptism skills are second to none."^[9]

While at University, Neeson`s abilities as a talented footballer emerged, which resulted in him being spotted by Bohemian F.C. manager Seán Thomas. Neeson travelled to Dublin for a trial with the club, and featured briefly when he came on as a substitute in a game against Shamrock Rovers, replacing Tony O`Connell. Neeson was not offered a contract at the club and that remained his only performance in professional football.

Neeson was enrolled in 1971 as a Physics and Computer Science undergraduate student at Queen's University Belfast in Belfast, Ireland, before leaving to work for Guinness. ^[10]

Career

Neeson gained critical acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination, for his role in Schindler's List.

After leaving the university, Neeson returned to Ballymena and worked in a variety of small jobs, from fork-lift operator at Guinness to truck driver. He also worked at a teacher-training college in Newcastle for two years before again returning to his hometown. Neeson would get his first film experience in 1978, playing Jesus Christ and Evangelist in the religious film, Pilgrim's Progress directed by Ken Anderson. He had a speaking role in Airplane, the Movie. Following a bet from co-workers at the architects' office where he worked, Neeson successfully auditioned at the Lyric Players' Theatre in Belfast.^[11] After two years there, 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 1978. 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 movie, Excalibur. After Excalibur, Neeson moved to London, where he continued working on stage, small budget movies and TV series. He lived with the actress Helen Mirren at this time, whom he met working on Excalibur.^[12] Between 1982 and 1987, Neeson starred in five films; most notably alongside Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in 1984's The Bounty.

In 1987, Neeson made a conscious decision to move to Hollywood in order to star in high-profile roles.^[12] That year, he starred alongside Cher and Dennis Quaid in Suspect. The role would bring Neeson critics' applause, but it was 1990's Darkman that would bring his name to the 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.) Director Steven Spielberg, impressed by his performance, offered him the coveted role of Oskar Schindler in the upcoming film about the Holocaust, Schindler's List.^[13] 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 pieces 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.

Star Wars

In 1999, Neeson starred as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, in George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. As it was the first Star Wars film to be released in over 16 years, it was surrounded by a large amount of anticipation from the media. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans, the film was an enormous financial success at the box-office. Neeson's voice would later be used 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 in the film.^[14] His appearance was ultimately cut, however, and Qui-Gon is only mentioned in the film.^[15] He was unable to take part in the film as he had been injured in a motorcycle accident.

Other

Neeson narrated the 2001 documentaries Journey Into Amazing Caves and The Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. After being nominated for a Tony Award 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).^[16] 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.

Neeson as Henri Ducard in Batman Begins. Because he often plays mentor-type characters, the revelation that Ducard was the villain was intended to shock viewers.^[17]

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?"^[18] 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.^[19] 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.^[20] A year later, he narrated the documentary Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity.

In 2007, Neeson starred in the American Civil War epic Seraphim Falls alongside Pierce Brosnan and Anjelica Huston. He is also set to star as Abraham Lincoln in a film directed by Steven Spielberg.^[2] In preparation for the role, Neeson visited Washington, D.C. and read Lincoln's personal letters. He also visited Ford's Theatre, where the President was shot.^[21] He again gave his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).^[22] Neeson's voice is featured in the video game, Fallout 3 as the main character's father, James.^[23] 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".^[24]

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.^[25]

He starred in the action movie 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.

Neeson has just wrapped filming the psychological thriller After.Life in New York with Christina Ricci and Justin Long.^[26] Neeson will provide a voice for the upcoming film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, projected for an April 2009 release, although the specific role is as yet unknown. ^[27] In June 2009, it was reported that Neeson is in talks to take on the part of John "Hannibal" Smith in a spin-off movie from the TV series The A Team.^[28][29]

Personal life

Neeson was married to actress Natasha Richardson from 3 July 1994 until her death on 18 March 2009, when Richardson suffered a severe head injury sustained in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort in the Canadian province of Quebec. Richardson and Neeson have two sons: Micheál (born 1995) and Daniel (born 1996). Neeson lives in Millbrook in the American state of New York. In August of 2004 Neeson and his late wife purchased an additional 16 acres next to their estate. ^[30]

Neeson was offered the 'Freedom of the Town of Ballymena' by Ballymena Borough Council, but because of objections made by members of the Democratic Unionist Party (the D.U.P.) regarding his comments that he had felt like a 'second-class citizen' growing up as a Catholic in the town, the offer was withdrawn. 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.^[31]

Liam Neeson is a supporter of Liverpool FC and was seen watching their 1-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Neeson is close friends with Ralph Fiennes and has credited him with helping him through his wife's death.

He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (an 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.

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Liam Neeson

• ITV Local Interview at premiere of Taken
• Liam Neeson at the Internet Movie Database
• Liam Neeson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Liam Neeson at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• The American Ireland Fund Performing Arts Award 2008