LIAM NEESON (Henri Ducard) continues to take on challenging roles and has become one of the leading international motion picture actors today. Whether it is his Academy Award nominated role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed Schindler’s List, his award-winning portrayal of legendary Irish Republican hero in Michael Collins (1996), or his most recent starring role as controversial sex therapist Alfred Kinsey in the critically acclaimed Kinsey, Neeson continues to display an acting range matched by few.
Neeson was last seen in Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, which takes place during the Crusades of the 12th Century and also stars Orlando Bloom. Last year, Neeson’s portrayal of Alfred Kinsey in Bill Condon’s Kinsey, co-starring Laura Linney, garnered him a best actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Prior to that, Neeson co-starred with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Keira Knightley in the Working Title film Love Actually (2003), written and directed by Richard Curtis.
Neeson returned to Broadway in 2002, co-starring with Laura Linney in Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible. Mr. Neeson’s performance as John Proctor earned him a Tony Award nomination. In 2001, he starred opposite Harrison Ford in the true story of Russia’s nuclear submarine tragedy titled K-19: The Widowmaker, and starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the black comedy Gun Shy (2000). Neeson starred in the box-office phenomenon Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, (1999) playing the role of Qui-Gon Jinn, the Master Jedi Knight who bestows his Force-ful wisdom upon Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young Anakin Skywalker. In the same year, he starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in Jan De Bont’s The Haunting (1999). In addition, he starred in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables in the role of Jean Valjean, co-starring Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. Also that year, Neeson played Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s new play, The Judas Kiss, which opened in London’s West End and subsequently on Broadway.
Neeson starred in the title role in Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins (1996), for which he received Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination, and London’s prestigious Evening Standard Award for Best Actor. The film also received the highest honor in Venice, The Golden Lion Award. It was in 1993, when Neeson received worldwide attention for his starring role in the Academy Award winning film Shindler’s List. In addition to winning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, he was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher, attending Queens College, Belfast and majoring in physics, computer science, math and drama. Neeson set teaching aside and in 1976, joined the prestigious Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast, (“the best training any actor could have”), making his professional acting debut in Joseph Plunkett’s The Risen People.
After two years with the Lyric Players he joined the famed repertory company of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Neeson appeared in the Abbey Theatre Festival’s production of Brian Friel’s Translations and a production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars for the Royal Exchange Theater where he received the Best Actor Award.
In 1980, John Boorman spotted him playing Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and cast him in his epic saga of the Arturian legend Excalibur. Following his motion picture debut in Excalibur, Neeson has appeared in more than 40 films demonstrating a wide range of characters, including Dino De Laurentis’ epic remake of The Bounty, directed by Roger Donaldson and co-starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins; the critically acclaimed Lamb for which he received an Evening Standard Drama Award nomination for his haunting portrayal of a priest tormented by doubts about his faith; Andrei Konchalovsky’s Duet for One co-starring Julie Andrews; as a political terrorist in A Prayer for the Dying with Mickey Rourke and Bob Hoskins; and a Jesuit priest in Roland Joffe’s The Mission co-starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons.
Neeson received critical acclaim, starring opposite Cher as a deaf and mute Vietnam veteran in Peter Yates’ courtroom drama Suspect; as the passionate Irish sculptor opposite Diane Keaton in The Good Mother; and as scientist Peyton Westlake, whose disfiguring accident forces him into hiding in Sam Raimi’s fantasy-thriller Darkman. Neeson next starred in David Leland’s gritty contemporary drama Crossing the Line, based on William McIIvanney’s acclaimed novel The Big Man about an unemployed Scottish miner desperate for money that is thrust into the high-stakes world of bare-knuckle boxing.
In 1992, he starred as both a Nazi engineer in David Seltzer’s adaptation of Susan Isaac’s best-selling novel, Shining Through opposite Michael Douglas; and as a disgraced policeman accused of murder in the erotic thriller Under Suspicion.
Neeson then continued to star in a succession of acclaimed films, most notably playing the sensitive art historian vying for the affections of Mia Farrow and Judy Davis in Woody Allen’s controversial Husbands and Wives. Other credits include: Paramount’s Leap of Faith with Steve Martin, starring opposite Jodie Foster and Natasha Richardson in Michael Apted’s Nell, Before and After with Meryl Streep, and the title role in Michael Caton-Jones’ Rob Roy co-starring Jessica Lange. Neeson made his Broadway debut in 1993 in the Roundabout Theater’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s 1921 drama Anna Christie, co-starring Natasha Richardson, and received a Tony Award nomination.
Neeson’s passion for the classics was once again rewarded critically in the American Playhouse production of Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome. Neeson starred in this tragic love story of three lonely people trapped by circumstances and repression in turn of the century New England.
Movie Database
In Theaters
(170 votes)
(4 votes)
(97 votes)
(20 votes)
(9 votes)
(7 votes)