Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson
Born	William John Neeson 7 June 1952 (age 56) Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Spouse(s)	Natasha Richardson (1994–2009) (her death)
[show]Awards won

William John “Liam” Neeson OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish actor.^[1] He is well known for his roles as Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg‘s Schindler’s List and as Qui-Gon Jinn in George Lucas‘ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and as the voice of 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 Michael Collins and Alfred Kinsey, and is set to play United StatesPresident Abraham Lincoln in a 2011 Spielberg-directed biographical film.^[2]

Biography

Early life

Neeson was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the son of Katherine “Kitty” (néeBrown), a cook, and Barnard Neeson, a caretaker at the local Catholic boy’s primary school.^[3] He was called Liam, a common Irish shortening of “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]

Career

While at the university, Neeson’s abilities as a talented footballer emerged which resulted in him being spotted by Bohemian FC 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 professionalfootball.

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 1973, playing Jesus Christ and Evangelist in the religious film, Pilgrim’s Progress directed by Ken Anderson. After a bet from co-workers at the architects’ office where he worked, Neeson successfully auditioned at the Lyric Players’ Theatre in Belfast.^[10] 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 Northern Ireland troubles. Neeson acted in several other Project productions and joined theAbbey Theatre in 1978. In 1980, film-maker 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.^[11] 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.^[11] That year, he starred alongside Cherand Dennis Quaid in crime thriller, 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 gained success, Neeson’s following years would not give him the same recognition. In 1993, he joinedEllis 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.^[12] His critically acclaimed performance later earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; however, the award went to Tom Hanks for his performance in Philadelphia. Neeson also garnered BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations forSchindler’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 Globes 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 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Because 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.^[13] His appearance was ultimately cut, however, and Qui-Gon is only mentioned in the film.^[14]

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 (withLeonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis). He also played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis‘ ensemble comedy Love Actually (2003).^[15] 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?”^[16] 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 kindlypriest on The Simpsons, who converted Bart and Homer to Catholicism.^[17] 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.^[18] 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 asAbraham 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.^[19] He again gave his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).^[20] Neeson’s voice is featured in the video game, Fallout 3 as the main character’s father, James.^[21] 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”.^[22]

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.^[23]

Neeson has just wrapped filming the psychological thriller After.Life in New York with Christina Ricci and Justin Long.^[24] 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.^[25]

Personal life

Neeson is the widower of the late actress Natasha Richardson, from 3 July 1994 to 18 March 2009, when Richardson died from a severe head injury sustained in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort in the Canadian province of Quebec. Richardson was the daughter of directorTony Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave and thus a member of the theatrical Redgrave family; her sister Joely Richardson. The couple had two sons, Micheál Richard Antonio (born 22 June 1995) and Daniel Jack (born 28 August 1996).

Neeson lives in exurban Millbrook, New York.

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 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 reared his children as Catholics.^[26]

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

ENDS