He said, " had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch him just Bible-thumping away. 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 acted in school productions during his teens. It's part of my DNA." Īt age nine, Neeson began boxing lessons at the All Saints Youth Club, and went on to win a number of regional titles before quitting at 17. I've known guys and girls who have been perpetrators of violence and victims. In a 2009 interview, he said, "I never stop thinking about. But all that nationalistic stuff, crying into your Guinness and singing rebel songs-that was never my scene." 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. "It would be colourful to imagine I had a rebellious, uproarious Irish background," he has said, "but the facts were much greyer. He said that growing up as a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant town made him cautious, and once said he felt like a "second-class citizen" there, but has also said he was never made to feel "inferior or even different" at the town's predominantly Protestant technical college. He attended St Patrick's College, Ballymena, from 1963 to 1967, and later recalled that his love of drama began there. He has three sisters, Elizabeth, Bernadette, and Rosaleen. Brought up Catholic, he was named Liam after a local priest. His mother was born and raised in Waterford in the south-east of Ireland. Neeson was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, the son of primary school caretaker Bernard "Barney" Neeson and cook Katherine "Kitty" Neeson (née Brown). He received his second Tony Award nomination for his performance in the 2002 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. He then starred as Oscar Wilde in David Hare's The Judas Kiss in 1998. 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. Neeson is also known for his work on stage. 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). He is known for his collaborations in the genre with director Jaume Collet-Serra, and starred in four of his films: Unknown (2011), Non-Stop (2014), Run All Night (2015), and The Commuter (2018). He also starred in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), the romantic comedy Love Actually (2003), and the drama Kinsey (2004).īeginning in 2009, Neeson cemented himself as an action star with the action thriller series Taken (2008–2014), The A-Team (2010), The Grey (2011), Wrath of the Titans (2012), and A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014). 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 followed by starring in Nell (1994), Rob Roy (1995), Michael Collins (1996), and Les Misérables (1998). He rose to prominence portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's holocaust drama Schindler's List (1993) for which he earned an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. His early film roles include Excalibur (1981), The Bounty (1984), The Mission (1986), The Dead Pool (1988), and Husbands and Wives (1992). In 1976, Neeson joined the Lyric Players' Theatre in Belfast for two years. Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000. In 2020, he was placed seventh on The Irish Times list of Ireland's 50 Greatest Film Actors. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards. William John Neeson OBE (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland.
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