Liam Neeson

William John "Liam" Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish actor.

Neeson was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the son of Katherine "Kitty", a cook, and Barnard Neeson, a caretaker at the local Catholic boy's primary school. He was called Liam, the Irish equivalent to William, after the local priest. He was the third child in the family and the only boy among four siblings; his sisters are Elizabeth, Bernadette and Rosaline. At age nine, Neeson began boxing lessons at the All Saints Youth Club. 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. From then on, he kept acting in school productions for the following years. His interest in acting and decision to become an actor was also influenced by 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 Baptisms skills are second to none."

Still boxing at sixteen, he had been Youth Heavyweight Champion of Ireland for three consecutive years, aided by his height.

While at 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 professional football.

After leaving 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 applied for an audition at the Lyric Players' Theatre in Belfast. 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. 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 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 Globes nomination and a win for Best Starring Role at the Venice Film Festival. Neeson went onto star as Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables and in The Haunting as Dr. David Marrow.

In 1999, Neeson starred as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Due to his height (6 ft 4 in/193 cm), Neeson cost George Lucas an additional $150,000 in set design on The Phantom Menace[citation needed]. 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. As a result, the film received mixed reviews from critics and fans, but 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. Neeson was supposed to appear in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as a Force Ghost, but a motorcycle accident prevented this and instead his character Qui-Gon was mentioned only. Also, Neeson reprised his role as Qui-Gon in a cameo apperance in Star Wars: Clone Wars.

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 as Captain Mikhail Polenin and appeared in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (with Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis). He also played a recently widowed writer in Richard Curtis' ensemble comedy Love Actually. 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. 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.

Since 3 July 1994, Neeson has been married to actress Natasha Richardson, with whom he co-starred in Nell. She is a daughter of director Tony Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave and thus a member of the theatrical Redgrave family; her sister is Joely Richardson. They have two sons, Micheál Richard Antonio (born 22 June 1995) and Daniel Jack (born 28 August 1996). The family home is 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 Roman Catholic in the town, the offer was withdrawn. Neeson continues to practise the Roman Catholic religion and has raised his children Roman Catholic.

He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in her 1999 New Year's Honours List. Neeson holds dual British and Irish citizenship. British citizenship is a requirement for receiving an OBE and not an honorary OBE. The American Ireland Fund honored Liam Neeson with their Performing Arts Award for the great distinction he has brought to Ireland at their 2008 Dinner Gala in New York.