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Liam Neeson

February 05, 2023

William John Neeson OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland.[3] He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on The Irish Times list of Ireland's 50 Greatest Film Actors.[4] Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.[5]

Liam Neeson

OBE
Born
William John Neeson

(1952-06-07) 7 June 1952 (age 70)
Ballymena, Northern Ireland
OccupationActor
Years active1976–present
WorksFull list
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1994; died 2009)​
PartnerHelen Mirren (1980-1985)[1][2]
Children2, including Micheál Richardson
AwardsFull list

In 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players' Theatre in Belfast for two years. His early film roles include Excalibur (1981), The Bounty (1984), The Mission (1986), and Husbands and Wives (1992). He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993) for which he earned a Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. He followed by starring in Nell (1994), Rob Roy (1995), Michael Collins (1996), and Les Misérables (1998). He took blockbuster roles portraying Qui-Gon Jinn in George Lucas' space opera Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005) and Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy (2005–2010). He also starred in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), the romantic comedy Love Actually (2003), and the drama Kinsey (2004).

Beginning in 2009, Neeson cemented himself as an action star with the action thriller series Taken (2008–2014), The A-Team (2010), Unknown (2011), The Grey (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Non-Stop (2013), A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014), and The Commuter (2018). He also starred in Martin Scorsese's religious epic Silence (2016), the fantasy drama A Monster Calls (2016), Steve McQueen's heist drama Widows (2018), the Coen brothers' western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and the romantic drama Ordinary Love (2019).

Neeson is also known for his work on stage. He made his Broadway debut in 1993 with his performance as Matt Burke in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. He then starred as Oscar Wilde in David Hare's The Judas Kiss in 1998. He received his second Tony Award nomination for his performance in the 2002 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

Early life

Neeson[6] was born in Ballymena, County Antrim,[6] the son of cook Katherine "Kitty" Neeson (née Brown) and primary school caretaker Bernard "Barney" Neeson.[7] Raised Catholic,[8] he was named Liam after a local priest.[9] The third of four siblings, he has three sisters, Elizabeth, Bernadette, and Rosaleen.[citation needed] He attended St Patrick's College, Ballymena from 1963 to 1967, and later recalled that his love of drama began there.[10]

He said that growing up as a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant town made him cautious,[11] and once said he felt like a "second-class citizen" there,[12] but has also said he was never made to feel "inferior or even different" at the town's predominantly Protestant technical college.[13] "It would be colourful to imagine I had a rebellious, uproarious Irish background," he has said, "but the facts were much greyer. Irish, yes. But all that nationalistic stuff, crying into your Guinness and singing rebel songs—that was never my scene."[14] He has described himself as "out of touch" with the politics and history of Northern Ireland until becoming aware of protests by fellow students after Bloody Sunday, a massacre in Derry in 1972 during the Troubles, which encouraged him to learn more local history.[13][15] In a 2009 interview, he said, "I never stop thinking about [the Troubles]. I've known guys and girls who have been perpetrators of violence and victims. Protestants and Catholics. It's part of my DNA."[16]

At age nine, Neeson began boxing lessons at the All Saints Youth Club, and went on to win a number of regional titles before discontinuing at 17.[17] He acted in school productions during his teens.[18] His interest in acting and decision to become an actor were also influenced by Ian Paisley, founder of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), into whose Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster he sneaked. He said, "[Paisley] had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch him just Bible-thumping away... it was acting, but it was also great acting and stirring too."[19] In 1971, he joined a physics and computer science course at Queen's University Belfast before leaving to work for the Guinness Brewery.[20] At Queen's, he discovered a talent for football and was spotted by Seán Thomas at Bohemian FC. There was a club trial in Dublin and Neeson played one game as a substitute against Shamrock Rovers FC, but was not offered a contract.[21]

Career

1976–1993: Early career

After leaving university, Neeson returned to Ballymena, where he worked in a variety of casual jobs, such as a forklift operator at Guinness and a lorry driver.[citation needed] He also attended teacher training college for two years in Newcastle upon Tyne before again returning to his hometown. In 1976, he 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 The Evangelist in the religious film Pilgrim's Progress (1978). He moved to Dublin in 1978 when he was offered a part in Ron Hutchinson's Says I, Says He, a drama about The Troubles, at the Project Arts Centre. He acted in several other Project productions and joined the Abbey Theatre (the National Theatre of Ireland).[citation needed] In 1980, he performed with Stephen Rea, Ray McAnally and Mick Lally, playing Doalty in Brian Friel's play Translations, the first production of Friel's and Rea's Field Day Theatre Company, first presented in the Guildhall in Derry on 23 September 1980.[22]

In 1980, filmmaker John Boorman saw him on stage as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men and offered him the role of Sir Gawain in the Arthurian film Excalibur. After the role, Neeson moved to London, where he continued working on stage, and in small budget films and television. He lived with actress Helen Mirren, whom he met working on Excalibur.[23] Between 1982 and 1987, he starred in five films, most notably with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in 1984's The Bounty and Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons in 1986's The Mission. Neeson guest-starred in the third season of the television series Miami Vice in 1986, and moved to Hollywood the next year to take higher-profile roles.[23] He starred with Cher and Dennis Quaid in Suspect, which brought him critical acclaim. In 1988, he starred with Clint Eastwood in the fifth Dirty Harry film, The Dead Pool, as Peter Swan, a horror film director. In 1990, he had a starring role in Sam Raimi's Darkman. Although the film was successful, Neeson's subsequent years did not bring 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.

1993–2000: Rise to prominence

Steven Spielberg offered Neeson the role of Oskar Schindler in his holocaust film Schindler's List[24] after seeing him in Anna Christie on Broadway. Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson and Warren Beatty all expressed interest in the part[25][26] (Beatty even auditioned),[25] but Neeson was cast in December 1992 after auditioning for the role.[26] He read the Keneally book and concluded that his character "enjoyed fookin' [sic] with the Nazis. In Keneally's book, it says he was regarded as a kind of a buffoon by them... if the Nazis were New Yorkers, he was from Arkansas. They don't quite take him seriously, and he used that to full effect."[27] His critically acclaimed performance earned him a nomination for a Best Actor Oscar, and helped the film earn Best Picture of 1993. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations for the performance. He soon became an in-demand leading actor. He starred in the subsequent period pieces Rob Roy (1995) and Michael Collins (1996), the latter earning him Best Starring Role at the Venice Film Festival and another Golden Globe nomination. He starred as Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, and in The Haunting (1999) as Dr. David Marrow.

In 1999, Neeson starred as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Director George Lucas cast Neeson because he considered him a "master actor, who the other actors will look up to, who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands."[28] As the first Star Wars film to be released in 16 years, it was surrounded by media anticipation. Neeson's connection to Star Wars started in the Crown Bar, Belfast. He told 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."[clarification needed] Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans,[29] The Phantom Menace was an enormous box-office success and remained the most financially successful Star Wars film (unadjusted for inflation) until Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).[30] Neeson's performance as Qui-Gon received positive reviews[31][32] and a Saturn Award nomination. A stock recording of his voice from The Phantom Menace can be heard during a scene in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).[33] Neeson was later reported to be appearing in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005),[34] but ultimately did not. In the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–20), he voiced Qui-Gon in two episodes of the third season and one episode of the sixth season,[33] and he also made a voice cameo as Qui-Gon in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).[35] Neeson appeared as Qui-Gon in the final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), appearing as a force ghost to Obi-Wan, in an uncredited cameo, marking his first live-action portrayal of Qui-Gon since The Phantom Menace. He later voiced Qui-Gon again for an episode of the animated Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (2022).

2001–2007: Mainstream roles

 
Neeson (left) and Ralph Fiennes at a U2 concert in Madison Square Garden, October 2005

Neeson narrated the 2001 documentaries Journey into Amazing Caves, a short film about two scientists who travel around the world to search for material for potential cures; and The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Adventure. The latter won awards at a number of film festivals including Best Documentary from both the Chicago Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review. After being nominated for a Tony Award for his role opposite Laura Linney in The Crucible, Neeson appeared with Harrison Ford in Kathryn Bigelow's 2002 submarine thriller K-19: The Widowmaker as Captain Mikhail Polenin. He was also on the cast of Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Gleeson, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis, and played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis's ensemble comedy Love Actually (2003).[36] His role as Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey again put Neeson up for nomination for a Golden Globe Award, but he lost 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 as a hippie in a one-off sketch about two stoners (the other played by Amy Poehler) who attempt to borrow a police dog to find their lost stash of marijuana. Despite vowing not to play any Irish stereotypes, Neeson did play a stereotypically Irish man named Lorcan McArdle in the home makeover show parody "You Call This A House, Do Ya?"[37]

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 Father Bernard in Neil Jordan's adaptation of Patrick McCabe's novel Breakfast on Pluto. In The Simpsons episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" (2005), he voiced the kindly priest who (briefly) converts Bart and Homer to Catholicism.[38] 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.[39] In 2007, he starred in the American Civil War epic Seraphim Falls.

Neeson voiced the main character's father, James, in the video game Fallout 3.[40] Executive producer Todd Howard said, "This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game".[41] Fallout 3, the third game in the Fallout series, was extremely well received by critics and shipped 4.7 million copies by the end of 2008, the year it was released.[42]

In the director's commentary of the 2007 Transformers DVD, Michael Bay said he had told the animators to seek inspiration from 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.[43]

2008–present: Later success

 
Neeson attending the premiere of The Other Man, September 2008

In 2008, Neeson starred in the action film Taken, a French-produced film also starring Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace, based on a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Pierre Morel. Neeson plays a retired CIA operative from the elite Special Activities Division who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped. Taken was a worldwide box-office hit, grossing $223.9 million worldwide, making almost $200 million more than its production budget. Neeson has said in interviews that he believed that Taken had put some people off the idea of actually travelling to Europe.[44] Taken brought Neeson back into the centre of the public eye and resulted in his being cast in many more big-budget Hollywood movies. That year he also narrated the documentary Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity and again lent his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).[45] He also provided a voice for Hayao Miyazaki's anime film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, which received an August 2009 release.[46]

In 2010, Neeson played Zeus in the remake of the 1981 film, Clash of the Titans. The film was a huge box-office hit, grossing $475 million worldwide.[47] Neeson also starred in Atom Egoyan's erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on 26 March 2010. Chloe had enjoyed commercial success and became the Canadian director's biggest money maker ever.[48] Later the same year, he played John "Hannibal" Smith in the spin-off movie from the television series The A-Team.[49][50] Neeson voiced Aslan once more in the sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010).

In 2011, Neeson starred in the action-thriller Unknown, a German-British-American co-production of a French book filmed in Berlin in early 2010, and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. This film led to a collaboration between Neeson and Collet-Serra on a series of similar action films including Non-Stop (2014), Run All Night (2015) and The Commuter (2018).

Neeson reunited with Steven Spielberg with plans to star as Abraham Lincoln in the 2012 film Lincoln, based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.[51] In preparation for the role, Neeson visited the District of Columbia and Springfield, Illinois, where Lincoln lived before being elected, and read Lincoln's personal letters.[52] Neeson eventually declined the role, claiming he was "past his sell date" and had grown too old to play Lincoln.[53] He was replaced by Daniel Day-Lewis (who in turn would win his third Academy Award for Best Actor).

 
Liam Neeson, Deauville Film Festival, 2012

In 2010, Neeson made a guest-star appearance on the Showtime series The Big C.[54] In 2011, he played himself in BBC2's series Life's Too Short. In late 2011, Neeson was cast to play the lead character, a journalist, in a new album recording and arena production of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds. He replaced Richard Burton, who had posthumously appeared in the arena production through CGI animation. Neeson did not physically appear on the stage, instead playing the role through the use of 3D holography. In 2012, Neeson starred in Joe Carnahan's The Grey. The film received mostly positive reviews and Neeson's performance received critical acclaim. He also starred in Taken 2, a successful sequel to his 2008 blockbuster.[55] That year, he once again played Ra's al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final film in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy. He narrated the first trailer for the film.

On 31 January 2014, it was reported that Neeson would work with director Martin Scorsese again in an adaptation of the novel Silence.[56] Neeson had a supporting role as the henchman Bad Cop/Good Cop in the animated film The Lego Movie, which was a critical and commercial success. Neeson later played Bill Marks in the 2014 action film Non-Stop. The film was released on 28 February 2014. He also appeared, uncredited, as God in the BBC2 series Rev.. Neeson stars in the 2014 film A Walk Among the Tombstones, an adaption of the best-selling novel of the same name, in which he plays former cop Matthew Scudder, a detective hired to hunt the killers of a drug dealer's wife.

During Super Bowl XLIX, Supercell did a Clash of Clans commercial with Neeson playing the game as "AngryNeeson52" and vowing revenge on his opponent "BigBuffetBoy85" while waiting for his scone at a bakery.[57] The appearance was a parody of his role in Taken. In 2016, Neeson narrated the RTÉ One three-part documentary on the Easter Rising, 1916.[58] In 2016, he did the voice and motion capture for the Monster in the Spanish film A Monster Calls.[59]

Following the success of the Taken films, Neeson has become increasingly known as a star of action thriller films.[60] Besides his aforementioned action-thrillers made in collaboration with Collet-Serra, other recent action films starring Neeson have included The Grey, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Cold Pursuit, Honest Thief, The Marksman, The Ice Road and Blacklight. Neeson has indicated a desire to retire from the action genre though the films have taken his acting career in a new direction.

Activism

Neeson opposes what he sees as the unrestricted right to own firearms in the U.S.[61] and has made calls for gun control.[62] In January 2015, he repeated his views, calling U.S. gun laws a "disgrace" in an interview with Emirati newspaper Gulf News when replying to a question about the Charlie Hebdo shootings earlier that month.[63] In response, U.S gun manufacturer Para USA, which provided the prop weapons used by Neeson in the Taken film series, stated: "We will no longer provide firearms for use in films starring Liam Neeson and ask that our friends and partners in Hollywood refrain from associating our brand and products with his projects."[63]

In 2014, Neeson protested against the anti-carriage horse campaign of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said he would outlaw horse-drawn carriages in Central Park once he took office. He wrote an opinion page published in The New York Times citing the carriage trade as a safe one for employees, horses, and tourists, and noted it was a livelihood for many immigrants.[64]

Neeson narrated a video for Amnesty International in favour of the legalisation of abortion in Ireland, which some conservative and pro-life commentators claimed was "anti-Catholic".[65]

Neeson was opposed to Brexit, stating in 2016 that it would be truly "a shame to sacrifice all the progress that has been made by the peace process regarding border controls".[66]

In September 2017, Neeson compared the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump to the Watergate scandal of Richard Nixon: "Democracy works and no man—and certainly not the president—is above the law. He has to be accountable."[67]

Personal life

Neeson lived with actress Helen Mirren during the early 1980s. They met while working on Excalibur (1981). Interviewed by James Lipton for Inside the Actors Studio, Neeson said Mirren was instrumental in his getting an agent.

Neeson then met actress Natasha Richardson while performing in a revival of the play Anna Christie on Broadway in 1993.[68] They were married on 3 July 1994[69] and had two sons together, Micheál (born in 1995) and Daniel (born in 1996).[70][71] In October 1998, they won £50,000 ($85,370) in libel damages after the Daily Mirror wrongly claimed that their marriage was suffering. They donated the money to victims of the August 1998 Omagh bombing.[72] In August 2004, they purchased an estate in Millbrook, New York.[73][74][75] On 18 March 2009, Richardson died when she suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort, northwest of Montreal. Neeson donated her organs following her death.[76]

Neeson holds Irish,[77] British,[78][failed verification] and American[79] citizenship, having been naturalised as an American citizen in 2009.[79] He primarily identifies as Irish.[80][81] After taking up American citizenship, he was adamant he was not turning his back on his Irish roots.[82] In 2009, nearly four decades after he was an undergraduate in physics and computer science at Queen's University, Belfast, it awarded him an honorary doctorate, presented to him in New York by Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson.[83] In March 2011, he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.[84] He is a patron of Belfast-based charity and film festival CineMagic, which helps young people get involved in the movie industry.[85]

A heavy smoker earlier in his career, Neeson quit smoking in 2003 while working on Love Actually. When he took the role of Hannibal for the 2010 film adaptation of The A-Team, he had reservations about smoking cigars (a signature trait of the character), but agreed to do it for the film.[86]

In June 2012, Neeson's publicist denied reports that Neeson was converting to Islam. Neeson has expressed an affection for the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, that he grew accustomed to while filming Taken 2 in Istanbul: "By the third week, it was like I couldn't live without it. It really became hypnotic and very moving for me in a very special way. Very beautiful."[87] He also expressed admiration for the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.[88]

Neeson's mother, Kitty, died in June 2020. He was unable to return to his hometown for her funeral due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[89]

Social views

Neeson was criticised for his comments on Ireland's Late Late Show in January 2018, during which he described the Me Too movement as a "witch hunt"[90] and cited Garrison Keillor's dismissal from Minnesota Public Radio as an example.[91]

In February 2019, Neeson gained public and media controversy after a press junket interview he conducted with The Independent while promoting Cold Pursuit, a film about a father seeking revenge for his son's murder.[92][93] He said that he generated his character's "primal" anger by recounting an experience he had 40 years ago, in which a female friend of his had been raped by a stranger. After learning the attacker was a black man, Neeson said that he spent a week going "up and down areas with a cosh, hoping some 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go" so that he "could kill him". In the interview, he also said he was ashamed of the experience and that the things he did and said were "horrible". He said, "It's awful [...] but I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, 'What the fuck are you doing?'"[94][95]

In an appearance on Good Morning America, Neeson elaborated on his comments while denying being a racist, stating that he asked for physical attributes of the rapist other than his race and that he would have done the same if the rapist was "a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian".[96] He also said that he had purposely gone into "black areas of the city" but that he "did seek help" and counselling from his friends and a priest after coming to his senses. He said that the lesson of his experience was "to open up [and] to talk about these things", including toxic masculinity and the underlying "racism and bigotry" in both the U.S. and Northern Ireland. The controversy following his comments led to cancellation of the red carpet event for the premiere of Cold Pursuit.[97][98] Neeson was publicly defended by Michelle Rodriguez,[99] Whoopi Goldberg,[100] John Barnes[101] and Ralph Fiennes.[102] He later appeared in the Atlanta episode “New Jazz” as a fictionalised version of himself, to examine the controversy.[103]

Filmography

Main article: Liam Neeson filmography

Awards and honours

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson

In 2000, Neeson was offered the "Freedom of the Town of Ballymena" by the 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.[104] Following the controversy, Neeson wrote a letter to the council, stating; "I will always remain very proud of my upbringing in, and association with, the town and my country of birth, which I will continue to promote at every opportunity. Indeed, I regard the enduring support over the years from all sections of the community in Ballymena as being more than sufficient recognition for any success which I may have achieved as an actor."[105] Subsequently, on 28 January 2013, Neeson received the Freedom of the Borough from Ballymena Borough Council at a ceremony in the town.[105]

Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in her 2000 New Year Honours.[5] The American Ireland Fund honoured Neeson with their Performing Arts Award for the great distinction he has brought to Ireland at their 2008 Dinner Gala in New York City.[106] In 2009, at a ceremony in New York, Neeson was awarded an honorary doctorate by Queen's University, Belfast.[107] On 9 April 2016, he was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award by the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) at the Mansion House, Dublin, with Irish President Michael D. Higgins presenting the award.[108] In 2017, Neeson was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 74 in the list of 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide.[109][110] In January 2018, he was awarded the Distinguished Service for the Irish Abroad Award by Irish President Michael D. Higgins, who described it as an award "for Irish people abroad who are making a contribution to humanity".[111]

See also

References

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February 05, 2023
liam, neeson, william, john, neeson, born, june, 1952, actor, from, northern, ireland, received, several, accolades, including, nominations, academy, award, british, academy, film, award, tony, awards, 2020, placed, irish, times, list, ireland, greatest, film,. William John Neeson OBE born 7 June 1952 is an actor from Northern Ireland 3 He has received several accolades including nominations for an Academy Award a British Academy Film Award and two Tony Awards In 2020 he was placed 7th on The Irish Times list of Ireland s 50 Greatest Film Actors 4 Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE in 2000 5 Liam NeesonOBENeeson at the 2012 Deauville American Film FestivalBornWilliam John Neeson 1952 06 07 7 June 1952 age 70 Ballymena Northern IrelandOccupationActorYears active1976 presentWorksFull listSpouseNatasha Richardson m 1994 died 2009 wbr PartnerHelen Mirren 1980 1985 1 2 Children2 including Micheal RichardsonAwardsFull listIn 1976 Neeson joined the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast for two years His early film roles include Excalibur 1981 The Bounty 1984 The Mission 1986 and Husbands and Wives 1992 He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg s holocaust drama Schindler s List 1993 for which he earned a Academy Award for Best Actor nomination He followed by starring in Nell 1994 Rob Roy 1995 Michael Collins 1996 and Les Miserables 1998 He took blockbuster roles portraying Qui Gon Jinn in George Lucas space opera Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 1999 Ra s al Ghul in Batman Begins 2005 and Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy 2005 2010 He also starred in Martin Scorsese s Gangs of New York 2002 the romantic comedy Love Actually 2003 and the drama Kinsey 2004 Beginning in 2009 Neeson cemented himself as an action star with the action thriller series Taken 2008 2014 The A Team 2010 Unknown 2011 The Grey 2011 Wrath of the Titans 2012 Non Stop 2013 A Walk Among the Tombstones 2014 and The Commuter 2018 He also starred in Martin Scorsese s religious epic Silence 2016 the fantasy drama A Monster Calls 2016 Steve McQueen s heist drama Widows 2018 the Coen brothers western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 2018 and the romantic drama Ordinary Love 2019 Neeson is also known for his work on stage He made his Broadway debut in 1993 with his performance as Matt Burke in the revival of Eugene O Neill s Anna Christie earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination He then starred as Oscar Wilde in David Hare s The Judas Kiss in 1998 He received his second Tony Award nomination for his performance in the 2002 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller sThe Crucible Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 1976 1993 Early career 2 2 1993 2000 Rise to prominence 2 3 2001 2007 Mainstream roles 2 4 2008 present Later success 3 Activism 4 Personal life 4 1 Social views 5 Filmography 6 Awards and honours 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksEarly lifeNeeson 6 was born in Ballymena County Antrim 6 the son of cook Katherine Kitty Neeson nee Brown and primary school caretaker Bernard Barney Neeson 7 Raised Catholic 8 he was named Liam after a local priest 9 The third of four siblings he has three sisters Elizabeth Bernadette and Rosaleen citation needed He attended St Patrick s College Ballymena from 1963 to 1967 and later recalled that his love of drama began there 10 He said that growing up as a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant town made him cautious 11 and once said he felt like a second class citizen there 12 but has also said he was never made to feel inferior or even different at the town s predominantly Protestant technical college 13 It would be colourful to imagine I had a rebellious uproarious Irish background he has said but the facts were much greyer Irish yes But all that nationalistic stuff crying into your Guinness and singing rebel songs that was never my scene 14 He has described himself as out of touch with the politics and history of Northern Ireland until becoming aware of protests by fellow students after Bloody Sunday a massacre in Derry in 1972 during the Troubles which encouraged him to learn more local history 13 15 In a 2009 interview he said I never stop thinking about the Troubles I ve known guys and girls who have been perpetrators of violence and victims Protestants and Catholics It s part of my DNA 16 At age nine Neeson began boxing lessons at the All Saints Youth Club and went on to win a number of regional titles before discontinuing at 17 17 He acted in school productions during his teens 18 His interest in acting and decision to become an actor were also influenced by Ian Paisley founder of the Democratic Unionist Party DUP into whose Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster he sneaked He said Paisley had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch him just Bible thumping away it was acting but it was also great acting and stirring too 19 In 1971 he joined a physics and computer science course at Queen s University Belfast before leaving to work for the Guinness Brewery 20 At Queen s he discovered a talent for football and was spotted by Sean Thomas at Bohemian FC There was a club trial in Dublin and Neeson played one game as a substitute against Shamrock Rovers FC but was not offered a contract 21 Career1976 1993 Early career After leaving university Neeson returned to Ballymena where he worked in a variety of casual jobs such as a forklift operator at Guinness and a lorry driver citation needed He also attended teacher training college for two years in Newcastle upon Tyne before again returning to his hometown In 1976 he 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 The Evangelist in the religious film Pilgrim s Progress 1978 He moved to Dublin in 1978 when he was offered a part in Ron Hutchinson s Says I Says He a drama about The Troubles at the Project Arts Centre He acted in several other Project productions and joined the Abbey Theatre the National Theatre of Ireland citation needed In 1980 he performed with Stephen Rea Ray McAnally and Mick Lally playing Doalty in Brian Friel s play Translations the first production of Friel s and Rea s Field Day Theatre Company first presented in the Guildhall in Derry on 23 September 1980 22 In 1980 filmmaker John Boorman saw him on stage as Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men and offered him the role of Sir Gawain in the Arthurian film Excalibur After the role Neeson moved to London where he continued working on stage and in small budget films and television He lived with actress Helen Mirren whom he met working on Excalibur 23 Between 1982 and 1987 he starred in five films most notably with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in 1984 s The Bounty and Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons in 1986 s The Mission Neeson guest starred in the third season of the television series Miami Vice in 1986 and moved to Hollywood the next year to take higher profile roles 23 He starred with Cher and Dennis Quaid in Suspect which brought him critical acclaim In 1988 he starred with Clint Eastwood in the fifth Dirty Harry film The Dead Pool as Peter Swan a horror film director In 1990 he had a starring role in Sam Raimi s Darkman Although the film was successful Neeson s subsequent years did not bring 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 1993 2000 Rise to prominence Steven Spielberg offered Neeson the role of Oskar Schindler in his holocaust film Schindler s List 24 after seeing him in Anna Christie on Broadway Kevin Costner Mel Gibson and Warren Beatty all expressed interest in the part 25 26 Beatty even auditioned 25 but Neeson was cast in December 1992 after auditioning for the role 26 He read the Keneally book and concluded that his character enjoyed fookin sic with the Nazis In Keneally s book it says he was regarded as a kind of a buffoon by them if the Nazis were New Yorkers he was from Arkansas They don t quite take him seriously and he used that to full effect 27 His critically acclaimed performance earned him a nomination for a Best Actor Oscar and helped the film earn Best Picture of 1993 He also received BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations for the performance He soon became an in demand leading actor He starred in the subsequent period pieces Rob Roy 1995 and Michael Collins 1996 the latter earning him Best Starring Role at the Venice Film Festival and another Golden Globe nomination He starred as Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo s Les Miserables and in The Haunting 1999 as Dr David Marrow In 1999 Neeson starred as Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn in Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Director George Lucas cast Neeson because he considered him a master actor who the other actors will look up to who has got the qualities of strength that the character demands 28 As the first Star Wars film to be released in 16 years it was surrounded by media anticipation Neeson s connection to Star Wars started in the Crown Bar Belfast He told 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 clarification needed Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans 29 The Phantom Menace was an enormous box office success and remained the most financially successful Star Wars film unadjusted for inflation until Star Wars The Force Awakens 2015 30 Neeson s performance as Qui Gon received positive reviews 31 32 and a Saturn Award nomination A stock recording of his voice from The Phantom Menace can be heard during a scene in Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones 2002 33 Neeson was later reported to be appearing in Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith 2005 34 but ultimately did not In the animated television series Star Wars The Clone Wars 2008 20 he voiced Qui Gon in two episodes of the third season and one episode of the sixth season 33 and he also made a voice cameo as Qui Gon in Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker 2019 35 Neeson appeared as Qui Gon in the final episode of Obi Wan Kenobi 2022 appearing as a force ghost to Obi Wan in an uncredited cameo marking his first live action portrayal of Qui Gon since The Phantom Menace He later voiced Qui Gon again for an episode of the animated Star Wars Tales of the Jedi 2022 2001 2007 Mainstream roles Neeson left and Ralph Fiennes at a U2 concert in Madison Square Garden October 2005 Neeson narrated the 2001 documentaries Journey into Amazing Caves a short film about two scientists who travel around the world to search for material for potential cures and The Endurance Shackleton s Legendary Antarctic Adventure The latter won awards at a number of film festivals including Best Documentary from both the Chicago Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review After being nominated for a Tony Award for his role opposite Laura Linney in The Crucible Neeson appeared with Harrison Ford in Kathryn Bigelow s 2002 submarine thriller K 19 The Widowmaker as Captain Mikhail Polenin He was also on the cast of Martin Scorsese s Gangs of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio Brendan Gleeson Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day Lewis and played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis s ensemble comedy Love Actually 2003 36 His role as Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey again put Neeson up for nomination for a Golden Globe Award but he lost 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 as a hippie in a one off sketch about two stoners the other played by Amy Poehler who attempt to borrow a police dog to find their lost stash of marijuana Despite vowing not to play any Irish stereotypes Neeson did play a stereotypically Irish man named Lorcan McArdle in the home makeover show parody You Call This A House Do Ya 37 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 Father Bernard in Neil Jordan s adaptation of Patrick McCabe s novel Breakfast on Pluto In The Simpsons episode The Father the Son and the Holy Guest Star 2005 he voiced the kindly priest who briefly converts Bart and Homer to Catholicism 38 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 39 In 2007 he starred in the American Civil War epic Seraphim Falls Neeson voiced the main character s father James in the video game Fallout 3 40 Executive producer Todd Howard said This role was written with Liam in mind and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game 41 Fallout 3 the third game in the Fallout series was extremely well received by critics and shipped 4 7 million copies by the end of 2008 the year it was released 42 In the director s commentary of the 2007 Transformers DVD Michael Bay said he had told the animators to seek inspiration from 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 43 2008 present Later success Neeson attending the premiere of The Other Man September 2008 In 2008 Neeson starred in the action film Taken a French produced film also starring Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace based on a script by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Pierre Morel Neeson plays a retired CIA operative from the elite Special Activities Division who sets about tracking down his teenage daughter after she is kidnapped Taken was a worldwide box office hit grossing 223 9 million worldwide making almost 200 million more than its production budget Neeson has said in interviews that he believed that Taken had put some people off the idea of actually travelling to Europe 44 Taken brought Neeson back into the centre of the public eye and resulted in his being cast in many more big budget Hollywood movies That year he also narrated the documentary Black Holes The Other Side of Infinity and again lent his voice to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian 2008 45 He also provided a voice for Hayao Miyazaki s anime film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea which received an August 2009 release 46 In 2010 Neeson played Zeus in the remake of the 1981 film Clash of the Titans The film was a huge box office hit grossing 475 million worldwide 47 Neeson also starred in Atom Egoyan s erotic thriller Chloe theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on 26 March 2010 Chloe had enjoyed commercial success and became the Canadian director s biggest money maker ever 48 Later the same year he played John Hannibal Smith in the spin off movie from the television series The A Team 49 50 Neeson voiced Aslan once more in the sequel The Chronicles of Narnia The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2010 In 2011 Neeson starred in the action thriller Unknown a German British American co production of a French book filmed in Berlin in early 2010 and directed by Jaume Collet Serra This film led to a collaboration between Neeson and Collet Serra on a series of similar action films including Non Stop 2014 Run All Night 2015 and The Commuter 2018 Neeson reunited with Steven Spielberg with plans to star as Abraham Lincoln in the 2012 film Lincoln based on the book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin 51 In preparation for the role Neeson visited the District of Columbia and Springfield Illinois where Lincoln lived before being elected and read Lincoln s personal letters 52 Neeson eventually declined the role claiming he was past his sell date and had grown too old to play Lincoln 53 He was replaced by Daniel Day Lewis who in turn would win his third Academy Award for Best Actor Liam Neeson Deauville Film Festival 2012 In 2010 Neeson made a guest star appearance on the Showtime series The Big C 54 In 2011 he played himself in BBC2 s series Life s Too Short In late 2011 Neeson was cast to play the lead character a journalist in a new album recording and arena production of Jeff Wayne s War of the Worlds He replaced Richard Burton who had posthumously appeared in the arena production through CGI animation Neeson did not physically appear on the stage instead playing the role through the use of 3D holography In 2012 Neeson starred in Joe Carnahan s The Grey The film received mostly positive reviews and Neeson s performance received critical acclaim He also starred in Taken 2 a successful sequel to his 2008 blockbuster 55 That year he once again played Ra s al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises the third and final film in Christopher Nolan s The Dark Knight Trilogy He narrated the first trailer for the film On 31 January 2014 it was reported that Neeson would work with director Martin Scorsese again in an adaptation of the novel Silence 56 Neeson had a supporting role as the henchman Bad Cop Good Cop in the animated film The Lego Movie which was a critical and commercial success Neeson later played Bill Marks in the 2014 action film Non Stop The film was released on 28 February 2014 He also appeared uncredited as God in the BBC2 series Rev Neeson stars in the 2014 film A Walk Among the Tombstones an adaption of the best selling novel of the same name in which he plays former cop Matthew Scudder a detective hired to hunt the killers of a drug dealer s wife During Super Bowl XLIX Supercell did a Clash of Clans commercial with Neeson playing the game as AngryNeeson52 and vowing revenge on his opponent BigBuffetBoy85 while waiting for his scone at a bakery 57 The appearance was a parody of his role in Taken In 2016 Neeson narrated the RTE One three part documentary on the Easter Rising 1916 58 In 2016 he did the voice and motion capture for the Monster in the Spanish film A Monster Calls 59 Following the success of the Taken films Neeson has become increasingly known as a star of action thriller films 60 Besides his aforementioned action thrillers made in collaboration with Collet Serra other recent action films starring Neeson have included The Grey A Walk Among the Tombstones Cold Pursuit Honest Thief The Marksman The Ice Road and Blacklight Neeson has indicated a desire to retire from the action genre though the films have taken his acting career in a new direction ActivismNeeson opposes what he sees as the unrestricted right to own firearms in the U S 61 and has made calls for gun control 62 In January 2015 he repeated his views calling U S gun laws a disgrace in an interview with Emirati newspaper Gulf News when replying to a question about the Charlie Hebdo shootings earlier that month 63 In response U S gun manufacturer Para USA which provided the prop weapons used by Neeson in the Taken film series stated We will no longer provide firearms for use in films starring Liam Neeson and ask that our friends and partners in Hollywood refrain from associating our brand and products with his projects 63 In 2014 Neeson protested against the anti carriage horse campaign of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio who said he would outlaw horse drawn carriages in Central Park once he took office He wrote an opinion page published in The New York Times citing the carriage trade as a safe one for employees horses and tourists and noted it was a livelihood for many immigrants 64 Neeson narrated a video for Amnesty International in favour of the legalisation of abortion in Ireland which some conservative and pro life commentators claimed was anti Catholic 65 Neeson was opposed to Brexit stating in 2016 that it would be truly a shame to sacrifice all the progress that has been made by the peace process regarding border controls 66 In September 2017 Neeson compared the U S presidency of Donald Trump to the Watergate scandal of Richard Nixon Democracy works and no man and certainly not the president is above the law He has to be accountable 67 Personal lifeNeeson lived with actress Helen Mirren during the early 1980s They met while working on Excalibur 1981 Interviewed by James Lipton for Inside the Actors Studio Neeson said Mirren was instrumental in his getting an agent Neeson then met actress Natasha Richardson while performing in a revival of the play Anna Christie on Broadway in 1993 68 They were married on 3 July 1994 69 and had two sons together Micheal born in 1995 and Daniel born in 1996 70 71 In October 1998 they won 50 000 85 370 in libel damages after the Daily Mirror wrongly claimed that their marriage was suffering They donated the money to victims of the August 1998 Omagh bombing 72 In August 2004 they purchased an estate in Millbrook New York 73 74 75 On 18 March 2009 Richardson died when she suffered a severe head injury in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant Resort northwest of Montreal Neeson donated her organs following her death 76 Neeson holds Irish 77 British 78 failed verification and American 79 citizenship having been naturalised as an American citizen in 2009 79 He primarily identifies as Irish 80 81 After taking up American citizenship he was adamant he was not turning his back on his Irish roots 82 In 2009 nearly four decades after he was an undergraduate in physics and computer science at Queen s University Belfast it awarded him an honorary doctorate presented to him in New York by Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson 83 In March 2011 he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF 84 He is a patron of Belfast based charity and film festival CineMagic which helps young people get involved in the movie industry 85 A heavy smoker earlier in his career Neeson quit smoking in 2003 while working on Love Actually When he took the role of Hannibal for the 2010 film adaptation of The A Team he had reservations about smoking cigars a signature trait of the character but agreed to do it for the film 86 In June 2012 Neeson s publicist denied reports that Neeson was converting to Islam Neeson has expressed an affection for the adhan the Islamic call to prayer that he grew accustomed to while filming Taken 2 in Istanbul By the third week it was like I couldn t live without it It really became hypnotic and very moving for me in a very special way Very beautiful 87 He also expressed admiration for the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola 88 Neeson s mother Kitty died in June 2020 He was unable to return to his hometown for her funeral due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID 19 pandemic 89 Social views Neeson was criticised for his comments on Ireland s Late Late Show in January 2018 during which he described the Me Too movement as a witch hunt 90 and cited Garrison Keillor s dismissal from Minnesota Public Radio as an example 91 In February 2019 Neeson gained public and media controversy after a press junket interview he conducted with The Independent while promoting Cold Pursuit a film about a father seeking revenge for his son s murder 92 93 He said that he generated his character s primal anger by recounting an experience he had 40 years ago in which a female friend of his had been raped by a stranger After learning the attacker was a black man Neeson said that he spent a week going up and down areas with a cosh hoping some black bastard would come out of a pub and have a go so that he could kill him In the interview he also said he was ashamed of the experience and that the things he did and said were horrible He said It s awful but I did learn a lesson from it when I eventually thought What the fuck are you doing 94 95 In an appearance on Good Morning America Neeson elaborated on his comments while denying being a racist stating that he asked for physical attributes of the rapist other than his race and that he would have done the same if the rapist was a Scot or a Brit or a Lithuanian 96 He also said that he had purposely gone into black areas of the city but that he did seek help and counselling from his friends and a priest after coming to his senses He said that the lesson of his experience was to open up and to talk about these things including toxic masculinity and the underlying racism and bigotry in both the U S and Northern Ireland The controversy following his comments led to cancellation of the red carpet event for the premiere of Cold Pursuit 97 98 Neeson was publicly defended by Michelle Rodriguez 99 Whoopi Goldberg 100 John Barnes 101 and Ralph Fiennes 102 He later appeared in the Atlanta episode New Jazz as a fictionalised version of himself to examine the controversy 103 FilmographyMain article Liam Neeson filmographyAwards and honoursMain article List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson In 2000 Neeson was offered the Freedom of the Town of Ballymena by the 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 104 Following the controversy Neeson wrote a letter to the council stating I will always remain very proud of my upbringing in and association with the town and my country of birth which I will continue to promote at every opportunity Indeed I regard the enduring support over the years from all sections of the community in Ballymena as being more than sufficient recognition for any success which I may have achieved as an actor 105 Subsequently on 28 January 2013 Neeson received the Freedom of the Borough from Ballymena Borough Council at a ceremony in the town 105 Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in her 2000 New Year Honours 5 The American Ireland Fund honoured Neeson with their Performing Arts Award for the great distinction he has brought to Ireland at their 2008 Dinner Gala in New York City 106 In 2009 at a ceremony in New York Neeson was awarded an honorary doctorate by Queen s University Belfast 107 On 9 April 2016 he was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award by the Irish Film and Television Academy IFTA at the Mansion House Dublin with Irish President Michael D Higgins presenting the award 108 In 2017 Neeson was listed by UK based company Richtopia at number 74 in the list of 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide 109 110 In January 2018 he was awarded the Distinguished Service for the Irish Abroad Award by Irish President Michael D Higgins who described it as an award for Irish people abroad who are making a contribution to humanity 111 See alsoList of British Academy Award nominees and winners List of Irish Academy Award winners and nominees List of actors with Academy Award nominationsReferences Helen Mirren Says She and Ex Liam Neeson Loved Each Other But Were Not Meant to Be Together 22 November 2022 Retrieved 28 January 2023 Liam Neeson Recalls First Falling for Former Flame Helen Mirren I Was Smitten 19 January 2018 Retrieved 28 January 2023 Liam Neeson promotes Northern Ireland tourism BBC News 10 March 2014 Archived from the original on 30 May 2014 Retrieved 29 December 2015 Clarke Donald Brady Tara 13 June 2020 The 50 greatest Irish film actors of all time in order The Irish Times Archived from the original on 5 August 2020 Retrieved 19 July 2020 a b Wilson Jamie 31 December 1999 Top billing at last for veteran entertainers Showbusiness Awards for Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Bassey The Guardian London p 4 a b Morales Tatiana 15 December 2004 Liam Neeson on Kinsey CBS News Archived from the original on 24 May 2011 Liam Neeson Biography Tiscali Archived from the original on 18 January 2007 Retrieved 18 April 2007 Liam Neeson Bloody Sunday made me learn my history The Belfast Telegraph 1 April 2010 Archived from the original on 25 December 2010 Retrieved 9 May 2010 Commentary Hollywood superstar Liam Neeson has told how he grew up in a religious Catholic background untouched by the Troubles Mansfield Stephanie December 1993 Liam Neeson Puts the Kettle On GQ Coleman Maureen 7 October 2009 Liam Neeson s special movie for his old Ballymena school Belfast Telegraph Retrieved 24 July 2021 Anderson Brett 27 December 2016 Liam Neeson s Catholic faith has waned but mum still devout at 90 Belfast Telegraph Archived from the original on 28 December 2016 Retrieved 28 December 2016 Star Wars actor rattles sabres BBC News 9 July 1999 Archived from the original on 12 March 2004 Retrieved 10 January 2018 a b Liam Neeson Bloody Sunday made me learn my history Belfast Telegraph 1 April 2009 Archived from the original on 10 April 2019 Retrieved 10 January 2018 Ingrid Millar Liam Neeson The First Biography London Hodder amp Stoughton 1995 p 45 Haynes Kenneth 6 May 2009 Liam Neeson speaks in public for first time since Natasha s death IrishCentral com Archived from the original on 10 April 2019 Retrieved 10 January 2018 Fincham Kelly 12 August 2009 Liam Neeson I will never get over the Troubles IrishCentral com Archived from the original on 10 April 2019 Retrieved 10 January 2018 Liam Neeson Digs into His Own Boxing Past For Manny Documentary About Ring Legend Manny Pacquiao www huffingtonpost co uk 17 November 2014 Archived from the original on 31 December 2018 Retrieved 17 May 2018 Dewson Lisa June 1986 A Man With a Mission Photoplay UK Neeson Reveals Paisley Influence BBC News 5 December 2007 Archived from the original on 9 July 2018 Retrieved 5 December 2007 Liam Neeson graduates 40 years on BBC News 7 May 2009 Archived from the original on 9 May 2019 Retrieved 9 June 2009 Keane Trevor 2010 Gaffers 50 years of Irish football managers Cork Mercier Press ISBN 978 1 85635 666 4 Friel B 1981 Translations London Faber and Faber ISBN 978 0 57111 742 0 a b McHugh Fionnuala September 1988 Neeson Easy Tall Dark and Phantom Elle UK de Vries Hilary 3 July 1993 Liam Neeson Newsday a b Royal Susan An Interview with Steven Spielberg Inside Film Magazine Online Archived from the original on 24 October 2008 Retrieved 29 October 2008 a b Thompson Anne 21 January 1994 Spielberg and Schindler s List How it came together Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on 15 October 2007 Retrieved 8 August 2007 Liam Neeson joins the A List after Schindler s List Entertainment Weekly 21 January 1994 Archived from the original on 15 October 2007 Retrieved 8 August 2007 Star Wars Episode I Production Notes LucasFilm 1 May 1999 Archived from the original on 23 October 2004 Retrieved 8 April 2016 Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 1999 Rotten Tomatoes Flixster Archived from the original on 15 May 2019 Retrieved 14 February 2012 All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on 27 April 2011 Retrieved 12 March 2009 Gleiberman Owen 21 May 1999 Movie Review Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 1999 Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on 5 March 2009 Retrieved 29 March 2009 Kennedy Colin Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Empire Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 Retrieved 15 September 2011 a b The Real Qui Gon Jinn Returns Tor com 26 January 2011 Archived from the original on 29 March 2016 Retrieved 8 April 2016 Keck William 10 January 2005 Movie star night in Palm Springs USA Today Archived from the original on 20 April 2017 Retrieved 2 June 2012 Breznican Anthony Robinson Joanna 20 December 2019 25 Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Cameos You Might Have Missed Vanity Fair Archived from the original on 1 December 2020 Retrieved 3 January 2020 Lee Alana 13 November 2003 Liam Neeson Love Actually interview BBC Archived from the original on 3 May 2008 Retrieved 18 April 2007 Liam Neeson 13 November 2004 You Call This A House Do Ya SNL Transcripts Archived from the original on 16 July 2012 Retrieved 2 June 2012 Hiatt Brian 5 November 2004 What s coming up on The Simpsons Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on 8 June 2007 Retrieved 18 April 2007 Liam Neeson Will Voice Aslan NarniaWeb 15 July 2005 Archived from the original on 23 August 2007 Retrieved 13 January 2007 Gaudiosi John 8 May 2007 Fallout 3 recruits Neeson The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on 25 October 2019 Retrieved 8 May 2007 Gibbon David 9 May 2007 Liam Neeson to lead Fallout 3 Digital Spy Archived from the original on 17 May 2007 Retrieved 9 May 2007 Thang Jimmy Fallout 3 Expanding to More Markets IGN Archived from the original on 19 January 2012 Retrieved 2 June 2012 Holmwood Leigh 8 May 2008 Nesbitt and Neeson set for Ulster drama The Guardian London Archived from the original on 20 October 2013 Retrieved 8 May 2008 Hutch Eleanore 30 December 2014 Kidnap epic Taken has put people off travelling to Europe says Liam Neeson Evoke ie Archived from the original on 7 January 2015 Retrieved 28 January 2015 Martin Paul 4 December 2006 Exclusive Prince Caspian Updates with Douglas Gresham NarniaFans Archived from the original on 15 December 2006 Retrieved 5 December 2006 Child Ben 27 November 2008 English language cast announced for Miyazaki s Ponyo on the Cliff The Guardian London Archived from the original on 30 September 2013 Retrieved 30 November 2008 Clash of the Titans 2010 Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on 18 June 2010 Retrieved 21 June 2010 Pevere Geoff 7 December 2010 The Digital Revolution Part 1 Toronto Star Archived from the original on 29 December 2020 Retrieved 3 September 2017 Hewitt Chris 9 June 2009 Neeson And Cooper Are The A Team Empire Archived from the original on 25 March 2012 Retrieved 9 June 2009 Cooper in A Team film Teletext Archived from the original on 9 September 2009 Retrieved 11 June 2009 Fleming Michael 11 January 2005 Lincoln logs in at DreamWorks Spielberg Neeson eye Abe pic Variety Archived from the original on 10 October 2007 Retrieved 24 January 2007 Evry Max 24 January 2007 Liam Neeson Talks Lincoln ComingSoon net Archived from the original on 30 June 2007 Retrieved 2 May 2007 Neeson quits Spielberg s Lincoln biopic Digital Spy 30 July 2010 Archived from the original on 28 January 2013 Retrieved 4 October 2012 Eng Joyce 26 July 2010 Liam Neeson to Appear on The Big C TV Guide Archived from the original on 20 December 2014 Retrieved 12 December 2019 Luc Besson s EuropaCorp Reports Strong Growth in Third Quarter Results The Hollywood Reporter 2 February 2013 Archived from the original on 6 May 2013 Retrieved 26 April 2013 Liam Neeson Set To Star in Martin Scorsese s Silence Deadline 31 January 2014 Archived from the original on 1 February 2014 Retrieved 31 January 2014 Frankel Todd C 2 February 2015 With Kate Upton and Liam Neeson ads mobile gaming has its Super Bowl moment The Washington Post Archived from the original on 4 February 2015 Retrieved 4 February 2015 Brosnan Sean 10 March 2016 RTE secures multiple international deals for Liam Neeson narrated 1916 documentary Irish Film amp Television Network Retrieved 8 April 2016 McClintock Pamela 8 May 2014 Cannes Liam Neeson Joins A Monster Calls The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on 3 February 2016 Retrieved 31 October 2016 Is Liam Neeson Really Quitting Action Movies What The Blacklight Actor Has To Say Cinemablend 12 February 2022 Retrieved 12 February 2022 Dinan Stephen U S gun manufacturing soars as Americans worry about security The Washington Times Archived from the original on 13 April 2019 Retrieved 17 February 2016 Pringle Gill 12 September 2014 Liam Neeson interview Hard man actor on Bono Ralph Fiennes and his fear of guns The Independent Archived from the original on 12 April 2019 Retrieved 3 September 2017 a b Liam Neeson under fire from Taken 3 gun makers BBC News 21 January 2015 Archived from the original on 27 March 2019 Retrieved 21 January 2015 Neeson Liam 14 April 2014 Carriages Belong in Central Park The New York Times Archived from the original on 4 May 2019 Retrieved 27 February 2017 Stanley Tim 21 October 2015 Amnesty International s pro abortion campaign is shamelessly anti Catholic The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 18 April 2019 Retrieved 8 April 2016 Agence France Presse Guillaume Lavallee 21 June 2016 Written at London Liam Neeson warns Brexit would damage Ireland Pasig Philippines Rappler Archived from the original on 6 August 2017 Retrieved 19 July 2020 Liam Neeson slams Donald Trump at TIFF The President is not above the law The Independent 12 September 2017 Archived from the original on 7 February 2019 Retrieved 6 February 2019 Huguenin Patrick 17 March 2009 Magical marriage takes a tragic turn New York Daily News Archived from the original on 11 April 2019 Retrieved 8 April 2016 Neeson Liam Film Reference Archived from the original on 1 August 2014 Retrieved 16 March 2015 Lynn Allison 10 July 1995 Passages People Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 16 March 2015 Helligar Jeremy 9 September 1996 Passages People Archived from the original on 27 June 2015 Retrieved 16 March 2015 Film stars give libel win to Omagh BBC News Archived from the original on 9 April 2003 Retrieved 10 January 2018 Pringle Gill 12 September 2014 Liam Neeson interview Hard man actor on Bono Ralph Fiennes and his fear of guns The Independent Archived from the original on 12 April 2019 Retrieved 14 January 2018 Blaney Retta Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson house profile Celebrity Detective Archived from the original on 5 March 2016 Retrieved 10 July 2009 Chiatella Tom 15 February 2011 The hard luck and beautiful life of Liam Neeson Esquire pp 106 13 Archived from the original on 22 December 2014 Retrieved 15 April 2011 Liam Neeson has spoken openly about donating his late wife Natasha Richardson s organs following her death in a skiing accident five years ago evoke ie 21 February 2014 Archived from the original on 26 March 2017 Retrieved 28 January 2015 Carruthers Mark April 2014 Alternative Ulsters Conversations on Identity Dublin Liberties Press ISBN 978 1909718494 No 55710 The London Gazette 1st supplement 31 December 1999 p 15 a b Actor Neeson becomes US citizen BBC News 26 August 2009 Archived from the original on 10 May 2021 Retrieved 5 January 2010 Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine Is Liam Neeson British I am Irish Youtube Wired 9 January 2018 Retrieved 16 July 2021 I am very proud to be Irish independent ie 12 January 2018 Retrieved 16 July 2021 I m still a proud Irishman independent ie 27 August 2009 Retrieved 16 July 2021 Liam Neeson graduates 40 years on 7 May 2009 Archived from the original on 11 May 2009 Retrieved 1 November 2012 via news bbc co uk Niles Chris 29 March 2011 Liam Neeson becomes UNICEF s newest Goodwill Ambassador UNICEF Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Festival Patrons CineMagic Archived from the original on 11 January 2018 Retrieved 8 April 2016 The A Team PTC Challenge 1 June 2010 Archived from the original on 16 March 2012 Retrieved 1 January 2012 Is Liam Neeson converting to Islam UK Screen 1 October 2012 Archived from the original on 24 April 2019 Retrieved 30 June 2013 Blaney Retta Acting Is a Form of Prayer BeliefNet Archived from the original on 29 May 2008 Retrieved 16 July 2007 Funeral of Liam Neeson s mother Kitty held in Ballymena Belfasttelegraph Archived from the original on 24 August 2020 Retrieved 5 September 2020 via www belfasttelegraph co uk Liam Neeson on sexual harassment in Hollywood YouTube 12 January 2018 Archived from the original on 28 July 2018 Retrieved 18 October 2018 Midkiff Sarah 14 January 2018 Liam Neeson Called The Me Too Movement A Witch Hunt Refinery29 Archived from the original on 18 October 2018 Retrieved 18 October 2018 Liam Neeson sparks race row over rape comments BBC News Archived from the original on 4 February 2019 Retrieved 5 February 2019 Rodrigo Chris 4 February 2019 Liam Neeson faces accusations of racism after rape comments The Hill Archived from the original on 7 February 2019 Retrieved 5 February 2019 Michallon Clemence 4 February 2019 Liam Neeson I walked the streets with a cosh hoping I d be approached by a black bastard so that I could kill him The Independent Archived from the original on 4 February 2019 Retrieved 4 February 2019 Michallon Clemence 4 February 2019 Liam Neeson interview Rape race and how I learnt revenge doesn t work The Independent Archived from the original on 4 February 2019 Retrieved 5 February 2019 Blistein Jon 5 February 2019 Liam Neeson Talks Racist Revenge Fantasy on Good Morning America Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 6 February 2019 Retrieved 6 February 2019 Sherpard Jack Liam Neeson interview Actor denies being racist after admitting wanting to kill a black man The Independent Archived from the original on 5 February 2019 Retrieved 6 February 2019 Red carpet nixed after Liam Neeson reveals racist thoughts Associated Press Archived from the original on 6 February 2019 Retrieved 6 February 2019 Pasquini Maria 7 February 2019 Michelle Rodriguez Defends Liam Neeson He s Not a Racist He s a Loving Man People Archived from the original on 14 January 2021 Retrieved 19 July 2020 Horton Helena 6 February 2019 Whoopi Goldberg insists friend Liam Neeson is not a bigot The Telegraph Archived from the original on 8 March 2019 Retrieved 7 March 2019 via www telegraph co uk Peplow Gemma 12 February 2019 John Barnes Liam Neeson deserves a medal for race admission Sky News Archived from the original on 13 April 2021 Retrieved 13 April 2021 Beresford Jack 4 March 2019 Certainly not a racist Ralph Fiennes comes to the defence of Liam Neeson The Irish Post Archived from the original on 8 March 2019 Retrieved 7 March 2019 Sharf Zack 6 May 2022 Liam Neeson Joined Atlanta to Poke Fun at His 2019 Racism Controversy and Say He s Sorry Variety Retrieved 6 May 2022 Neeson refuses hometown honour BBC News 21 March 2000 Archived from the original on 26 October 2012 Retrieved 20 January 2012 a b Liam Neeson arrives in Ballymena to receive award BBC News 28 January 2013 Archived from the original on 14 June 2015 Retrieved 8 April 2016 Lombardo Delinda 13 May 2008 Liam Neeson Honored by American Ireland Fund Look to the Stars Archived from the original on 7 November 2017 Retrieved 4 November 2017 Liam Neeson graduates 40 years on BBC News 7 May 2009 Archived from the original on 11 May 2009 Retrieved 1 November 2012 Liam Neeson to be honoured in Dublin at the 2016 Ifta Awards on April 9th The Irish Film amp Television Academy Archived from the original on 10 May 2021 Retrieved 4 November 2017 Philanthropists amp Social Entrepreneurs Top 200 From Elon Musk to Melinda Gates These Are the Most Influential Do Gooders in the World Richtopia Archived from the original on 30 March 2017 Retrieved 1 April 2017 Top 200 Global Philanthropists Social Entrepreneurs ThisDayLive Archived from the original on 1 April 2017 Retrieved 3 April 2017 President honours splendid Irish man abroad Liam Neeson The Irish Times 12 January 2018 Archived from the original on 28 February 2018 Retrieved 8 January 2019 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liam Neeson Wikiquote has quotations related to Liam Neeson Liam Neeson at IMDb Liam Neeson at the Internet Broadway Database Liam Neeson at the TCM Movie Database Liam Neeson at AllMovie Liam Neeson at the BFI s Screenonline Liam Neeson on GQ s Actually Me Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Liam Neeson amp oldid 1137196906, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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