Liam Neeson

Profile
Name: Liam Neeson
Birth Name: William John Neeson
Height: 6'4"
Sex: M
Nationality: British
Birth Date: June 7, 1952
Birth Place: Ballymena, Northern Ireland, U.K.
Profession: actor
Education: St. Mary's Teaching School (dropped out) Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Husband/Wife: Natasha Richardson (actress; born on May 11, 1963; married on July 3, 1994)
Relationship: Helen Mirren (actress; b. July 26, 1945; 1981-1985), Julia Roberts (actress; b. October 28, 1967; 1988-1990), Brooke Shields (actress; b. May 31, 1965), Barbra Streisand (actress, singer; b. April 24, 1942), Sinéad O'Connor (singer; b. December 8, 1966)
Father: Barney Neeson
Mother: Kitty Neeson
Sister: Bernadette Neeson
Son: Daniel Jack Neeson (born on August 28, 1996), Michael Richard Antonio Neeson (born on June 22, 1995)
Claim to fame: as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List (1993

Biography
Irish-born Neeson worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, truck driver, assistant architect and an amateur boxer. He had originally sought a career as a teacher by attending St. Mary's Teaching College in Belfast. However, in 1976, Neeson joined the Belfast Lyric Players' Theater and made his professional acting debut in the play "The Risen People". After two years, Neeson moved to Dublin's Abbey Theater where he performed the classics. It was here that he was spotted by director John Boorman and was cast in the film Excalibur (1981), which dealt with the Arthurian legend. From there, he acted in a number of average films and Television Mini-series until he gained notice for his role as the mute in Suspect (1987). Neeson did not play the lead in a movie until he appeared in Darkman (1990). Good performances in Leap of Faith (1992) and Husbands and Wives (1992) led to Neeson being picked for the role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993). For this role, Neeson was nominated for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe. In 1993, he made his Broadway debut in "Anna Christie" in which he co-starred with Natasha Richardson. For his role in this play, Neeson was nominated for a Tony. When he returned to the big screen, Neeson again co-starred with Richardson in the Jodie Foster movie Nell (1994). In the next 2 years, Neeson played characters close to his roots when he was the eighteenth century Scottish Highlander Rob Roy (1995) and the Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins (1996).

Filmography
2008 Taken
2008 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
2006 Home
2006 Seraphim Falls
2005 Batman Begins
2005 Kingdom of Heaven
2005 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
2005 Riverdance: The Ten Years
2004 Patrick
2004 Kinsey
2004 Breakfast on Pluto
2003 Martin Luther, Part 2: The Reluctant Revolutionary
2003 Martin Luther [TV Documentary Series]
2003 Love Actually
2003 Martin Luther, Part 1: Driven to Defiance
2003 Coral Reef Adventure
2002 Gangs of New York
2002 Liberty's Kids [Animated Series]
2002 K-19: The Widowmaker
2001 Evolution, Part 3: Extinction!
2001 Evolution, Part 4: The Evolutionary Arms Race
2001 Evolution, Part 7: What About God?
2001 Journey into Amazing Caves
2001 Evolution [TV Documentary Series]
2001 Evolution, Part 1: Darwin's Dangerous Idea
2001 Evolution, Part 2: Great Transformations
2001 Evolution, Part 6: The Mind's Big Bang
2001 Evolution, Part 5: Why Sex?
2001 Evolution: Learning and Teaching Evolution
2000 Inside the Space Station
2000 The Directors: Steven Spielberg
2000 The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
2000 Gun Shy
1999 The Haunting
1999 The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, Part 3 - Empire of Mind
1999 The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, Part 1 - The Revolution
1999 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
1999 The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization, Part 2 - Golden Age
1998 Les Miserables
1998 Everest
1996 Before and After
1996 Michael Collins
1995 Rob Roy
1994 Nell
1994 Out of Ireland: The Story of Irish Emigration to America
1993 Schindler's List
1992 Husbands and Wives
1992 Leap of Faith
1992 Ruby Cairo
1992 Under Suspicion
1992 Ethan Frome
1992 Shining Through
1990 Darkman
1990 Crossing the Line
1989 Next of Kin
1988 The Dead Pool
1988 High Spirits
1988 Satisfaction
1988 The Good Mother
1987 Sweet as You Are
1987 Suspect
1987 A Prayer for the Dying
1987 Sworn to Silence
1986 The Mission
1986 If Tomorrow Comes
1986 Duet for One
1985 The Innocent
1985 Arthur the King
1985 Lamb
1985 Hold the Dream
1984 The Bounty
1984 A Woman of Substance, Episode 3: The Secret Is Revealed
1984 A Woman of Substance, Episode 2: Fighting for the Dream
1984 A Woman of Substance, Episode 1: Nest of Vipers
1983 Across the Water
1983 Krull
1983 Ellis Island
1981 Excalibur
1979 Christiana
Hold the Dream, Part 1
Hold the Dream, Part 2
Hold the Dream, Part 3

Intertitle Writer
1996 A Leap of Faith

Awards
Academy
1993 Best Actor Schindler's List

British Academy Awards
1993 Best Actor Schindler's List

Golden Globe
2004 Best Actor - Drama Kinsey
1993 Best Actor (Drama) Schindler's List

Independent Spirit Award
2004 Best Actor Kinsey

L.A. Film Critics Association
2004 Best Actor Kinsey

London Film Critics Association
2005 Best British Actor Kinsey

Venice International Film Festival
1996 Volpi Cup for Best Actor Michael Collins

Trivia
* In order to research her role as Blanche in a staging of the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, his wife Natasha Richardson moved out of their marital home to keep her mind focused. (2005)
* American conservative groups are outraged over the film KINSEY, which stars Neeson about controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey whom they accuse of being a closet pornographer. (2004)
* Is turning his back on big Hollywood roles because he wants to spend more time with his family. (November 5, 2003)
* Neeson and a film team visited Indiana University's Kinsey Institute this week to view its sex research and get acquainted with the Bloomington area, including the Elm Heights house where sex research pioneer Alfred Kinsey and his family lived -- The trip is part of the team's preparations for a film on Kinsey which is expected to be released next year. (June 6, 2003)
* Fractured his right pelvis and chipped his left pelvis and sustained multiple abrasions to his legs after hitting a deer while riding his 1989 Harley Davidson motorcycle near his home in Washington, New York. He was thrown off the motorcycle just before it smashed into a nearby tree. A passing motorist found Neeson crawling along the roadside. (July 11, 2000)
* Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#74). (1995)
* Was named an Officer of the Order of British Empire (OBE) by Britain's Elizabeth, Queen on New Year's Eve, 1999
* Loves fly-fishing
* Was a boxer as a teen-ager in Northern Ireland, which resulted in getting his nose broken at the age of 15. Nevertheless, he went on to win the Irish Youth Championship. A brief blackout after one of his fights, however, caused him to give up the ring for good.
* Won a libel case against newspapers who claimed that his marriage was in trouble. (October 1998)
* Ranked #69 in Empire (UK) magazine's The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list. (October 1997)
* First worked with future wife actress Natasha Richardson on the TV mini-series ELLIS ISLAND in 1984.
* Has a fear of heights.
* Was considered for the role of James Bond in GOLDENEYE (1995).
* In DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989) he had originally landed the leading role to be directed by Jeff Kanew, but lost it to Robin Williams when director Peter Weir came on board.
* In SHINING THROUGH (1992), he works with his future sister-in-law, Joely Richardson.
* (STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999): Sets were built only as high as the tops of the actors' heads and computer graphics filled in the rest. But he was so tall that he cost the set crew an extra $150,000 in construction.** The person who places the flower on top of the stones in the closing credits of SCHINDLER'S LIST is him and not Spielberg as some people think.
* Neeson was confined to a supporting role on Thursday when he unveiled a statue to Irish freedom fighter Michael Collins on the 80th anniversary of his assassination and thousands of people crowded into the tiny village of Clonakilty, Collins's hometown on the southwest Irish coast, to see the Oscar-nominated actor unveil the seven-foot bronze statue of the man regarded as one of the main architects of Irish independence from Britain. (August 2002)
* Nominated for Best Fight at MTV Movie Awards for STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE (2000)
* Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at Academy Awards for SCHINDLER'S LIST (1994)
* Nominated for Best Actor Leading at BAFTA Awards for SCHINDLER'S LIST (1994)
* Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama at Golden Globe Awards for SCHINDLER'S LIST (1994)
* Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama at Golden Globe Awards for MICHAEL COLLINS (1977)