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Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson
William John Neeson was born in in Ireland on the 7th June 1952. He 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' Theatre and made his professional acting debut in the play "The Risen People". After two years, Neeson moved to Dublin's Abbey Theatre where he performed the classics. It was here that he was spotted and cast for the film Excalibur. 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).

In his career's recent years, Neeson has very often Taken roles in which he is a mentor/trainer/father figure to a younger man, as in, for example, Batman Begins (2005), Kingdom Of Heaven (2005), Gangs Of New York (2002), and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). His character often must die early in the movie and/or the student's life so that the young man can apply the Neeson character's lessons to his own ongoing struggle. More recently Liam Neeson has starred in films such as; Five Minutes of Heaven, The Other Man, The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian and Taken.

Quotes;
I never did think of myself as handsome--terribly attractive, yes, but not handsome.

I think I realized there were two communities in Northern Ireland when I was about nine or 10, not because there was any trouble but because in certain years my parents would keep us indoors on the 12th of July. I couldn't figure that out, because all my mates were out dancing in the streets and I wanted to go out and join them. So it was then that I sensed a "them and us" attitude.

No, I don't get obsessed with acting. Because in the past when I have got obsessed about it, it really got in the way of the creative process. I've learned to hang the character on the coat-peg at the end of the day, and when I leave in the morning I pick it up again. And I had to work at that because the other way lies a strange sort of madness.

Laid-back? My wife said that? Well, I guess I am. It takes a lot to get me riled.



News | What members say | Filmography | Watch online (3)

Liam Neeson - news / articles


  • Neeson to star in A Team movie? - 10 June 2009
    -Liam Neeson is in talks with movie bosses to star in the upcoming big screen version of The A Team.- -The Schindler's List actor has reportedly been lined up to play John 'Hannibal' Smith, the role made famous by George Peppard in the hit 1980s television show.- -


  • Neeson tipped for Lincoln role - 13 January 2005
    Liam Neeson is in negotiations to take on the role of the United States' most revered president in Steven Spielberg's long-anticipated biopic of Abraham Lincoln.-The Northern Irish actor starred in the director's Holocaust epic Schindler's List and is now rumoured to

Liam Neeson - what members say


  • Michael Collins
  • Michael Collins review by from LONDON
    Rated - 4 stars 8 November 2004
    ...Liam Neeson is brilliant, this movie captures the struggle for independence and the subsequent civil war beautifully....one to watch over again...  
  • Rob Roy
  • Rob Roy review by from Deal, England
    Rated - 5 stars A movie with heart 21 August 2004
    ...ends upon the casting, and in the three pivotal roles, the actors are terrific. Liam Neeson is just the right man to play the hero - he has the physical stature and the pr...  
  • Les Miserables
  • Les Miserables review by A customer from Suffolk, England
    Rated - 3 stars Not for fans of the musical 16 April 2004
    ... and there were some fantastic performances from Uma Thurman, Geoffrey Rush and Liam Neeson. The film is much darker and grittier than the musical, making it I suppose muc...  

Liam Neeson - filmography


  • Five Minutes of Heaven on DVD (2009)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  James Nesbitt,  Anamaria Marinca
    Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    The idea of reconciliation between two men from opposite sides of a life-and-death struggle is perhaps impossible or even incredibly naïve. Five Minutes of Heaven, a film that tracks the lives of two men from the same town but different sides of the Irish political divide, is unlike any other on ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 63% from 535 members
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  • Chloe (2009)
    Starring: Nina Dobrev,  Amanda Seyfried,  Liam Neeson
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Catherine and David, she a doctor, he a professor, are at first glance the perfect couple. Happily married with a talented teenage son, they appear to have an idyllic life. But when David misses a flight and his surprise birthday party, Catherine's long simmering suspicions rise to the surface. ..read more »
    Rate this: 4.5 stars out of 5 90% from 3 members
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  • The Other Man on DVD (2008)
    Starring: Antonio Banderas,  Abigail Canton,  Amanda Drew
    Director: Richard Eyre
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: £3.49
    After many years of marriage a man's wife dies. Shortly afterwards, a letter arrives for her from another man. Obsessed with finding out the truth, the husband writes back, impersonating his dead wife. Soon he discovers a love which he cannot understand.
    Rate this: 2 stars out of 5 41% from 16 members
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  • Xavier - Missionary And Saint on DVD (2006)
    Starring: Liam Neeson
    Certificate: Certificate: Ex
    Actor Liam Neeson narrates this documentary look at the life of Saint Francis Xavier, a 16th-century missionary who founded the Jesuit order and is said to have converted more people to Christianity than anyone other than St. Paul. Xavier's inspirational life and works are detailed through ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 54% from 15 members
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  • Kinsey on DVD (2004)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Laura Linney,  Chris O'Donnell
    Director: Bill Condon
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    The life story of Alfred Kinsey, a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of the nation, and journey into the mystery of human behavior. In 1948, Kinsey irrevocably changed American culture and created a media sensation with his book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male." Using the technique ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 60% from 14,394 members
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  • Patrick on DVD (2004)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Gabriel Byrne,  John Clancy
    Director: Pamela Mason Wagner
    Certificate: Certificate: Ex
    The story of the real St. Patrick is part adventure tale and part spiritual awakening, with the future Saint rising from slave to liberator, learning to forgive and ultimately love his enemies, taking up a cause no one believed in, and finally lighting a fire that kept western civilization alive. ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 54% from 22 members
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  • Love Actually - BLU-RAY Version (2003)
    Starring: Hugh Grant,  Liam Neeson,  Colin Firth
    Director: Richard Curtis
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Written and directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Duncan Kenworthy (the team behind NOTTING HILL and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) this zingy Brit-com weaves a vivid crazy quilt of interlocking or unrelated vignettes all dealing with the subject of love over the Christmas holidays in London. ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 70% from 267 members
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  • Love Actually on DVD (2003)
    Starring: Hugh Grant,  Liam Neeson,  Colin Firth
    Director: Richard Curtis
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Written and directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Duncan Kenworthy (the team behind NOTTING HILL and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) this zingy Brit-com weaves a vivid crazy quilt of interlocking or unrelated vignettes all dealing with the subject of love over the Christmas holidays in London. ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 67% from 76,589 members
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  • K-19: The Widowmaker on DVD (2002)
    Starring: Harrison Ford,  Liam Neeson,  Joss Ackland
    Director: Kathryn Bigelow
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Watch now: £2.49
    Inspired by a true story that was kept secret until the fall of communism, K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER is a tale of ordinary men who sacrifice everything for their shipmates and their country. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, an ill-prepared Russian nuclear missile submarine embarks on its maiden ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 61% from 7,237 members
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  • Endurance on DVD (2001)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Conrad Anker,  Reinhold Messner
    Director: George Butler
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    In August 1914, seasoned British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton embarks on his third excursion into Antarctic territory, planning to cross the Antarctic continent on foot--something no other explorer has attempted before. Only a day's journey from his final destination, Shackleton's ship, The ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 352 members
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  • Gun Shy on DVD (2000)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Oliver Platt,  Sandra Bullock
    Director: Eric Blakeney
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: £2.49
    Writer-director Eric Blakeney tells the darkly comic tale of Charlie Mayough (Liam Neeson), an undercover DEA agent who narrowly escapes death at the hands of mobsters. He only wants to retire, but reluctantly agrees to close this last case. His stress leads him to group therapy, where he befriends ..read more »
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 50% from 654 members
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  • Les Miserables on DVD (1998)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Geoffrey Rush,  Uma Thurman
    Director: Bille August
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Liam Neeson stars as Jean Valjean, a heartless convict who is transformed by a single act of mercy. Uma Thurman is Fantine, the vulnerable prostitute who begs Valjean to raise her only child, Cosette (Claire Danes). And Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush is an ambitious policeman determined to return ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 1,115 member
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  • Everest - IMAX (1996)
    Starring: Liam Neeson
    Director: David Breashears,  Stephen Judson
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    Originally produced for IMAX theaters, this documentary (with some re-creations), focuses on an expedition which set out to climb the famed mountain in the spring of 1996.
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 67% from 13 members
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  • Michael Collins on DVD (1996)
    Starring: Aidan Quinn,  Stephen Rea,  Alan Rickman
    Director: Neil Jordan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Starting with Ireland's bloody Easter Rebellion of 1916 and ending with his untimely death, this brilliantly photographed epic from director Neil Jordan tells the charged story of Michael "Mickey" Collins. An IRA founder whose innovative guerrilla tactics succeeded in bringing freedom from British ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 71% from 2,867 members
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  • Before And After (1996)
    Starring: Meryl Streep,  Liam Neeson,  Edward Furlong
    Director: Barbet Schroeder
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    The idyllic life of Carolyn and Ben Ryan (Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson) is shattered in an instant when the girlfriend of their teenage son, Jacob (Edward Furlong), is found brutally murdered. Jacob was the last person to see her alive, and he quickly becomes the prime suspect in the case. Worse ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 57% from 13 members
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  • Rob Roy on DVD (1995)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Jessica Lange,  John Hurt
    Director: Michael Caton-Jones
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    A rousing film version of Sir Walter Scott's sweeping romantic adventure based on the life of Scottish hero Robert Roy MacGregor (Liam Neeson) who battled a despotic English secretary appointed by the king to watch over Scottish highlands.
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 65% from 2,613 members
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  • Nell on DVD (1994)
    Starring: Jodie Foster,  Liam Neeson,  Natasha Richardson
    Director: Michael Apted
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    The backwoods of North Carolina is where Nell (Jodie Foster) lives, all alone. She has her own form of language and no idea of a world beyond her small plot of land. Then civilisation enters her life in the form of two doctors (Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson), who discover the untamed wild ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 2,278 members
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  • Schindler's List on DVD (1993)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Ralph Fiennes,  Caroline Goodall
    Director: Steven Spielberg
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Based on a true story, SCHINDLER'S LIST is Steven Spielberg's epic drama of World War II Holocaust survivors and the man who unexpectedly came to be their saviour. Unrepentant womaniser and war profiteer Oskar Schindler uses Polish Jews as cheap labour to produce cookware for the Third Reich. But ..read more »
    Rate this: 4 stars out of 5 81% from 69,172 members
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  • Ruby Cairo (1993)
    Starring: Andie MacDowell,  Liam Neeson,  Viggo Mortensen
    Director: Graeme Clifford
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    When Bessie Faro's husband Johnny dies in a plane crash in Veracruz, Mexico, she finds that his air cargo business is deeply in the red. When she visits the airline's terminal in Veracruz, she discovers her husband was pumping large amounts of money into bank accounts all over the world.
    Rate this: 2 stars out of 5 41% from 15 members
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  • Husbands And Wives on DVD (1992)
    Starring: Woody Allen,  Mia Farrow,  Blythe Danner
    Director: Woody Allen
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Gabe and Judy Roth (Woody Allen and Mia Farrow), a long-married couple, find their relationship starting to crumble when their best friends, Jack and Sally (Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis), announce that they are separating. Allen's use of a hand-held camera and jump-cuts adds immediacy to a ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 3,451 members
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  • Leap Of Faith on DVD (1992)
    Starring: Steve Martin,  Debra Winger,  Lolita Davidovich
    Director: Richard Pearce
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Fast-talking preacherman Jonas Nightengale trades salvation in return for donations to his touring ministry. When his bus breaks down in a poor area he learns a lesson about real miracles. Soundtrack includes: Patti La Belle, Don Henley, Elton John and Meatloaf.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 678 members
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  • Under Suspicion (1991)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Kenneth Cranham,  Maggie O'Neill
    Director: Simon Moore
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    In 1959 Brighton, disgraced cop turned P.I. Tony Aaron falsifies adulteries for use as evidence in divorce cases. His wife pretends to be painter Carlo Stasio�s lover but the pair are killed in a hotel room. The most likely suspects are Angeline, Stasio's mistress who is set to inherit his ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 62% from 12 members
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  • Darkman on DVD (1990)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Frances McDormand,  Colin Friels
    Director: Sam Raimi
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    A scientist on the verge of a major discovery in synthetic skin is burned beyond recognition when his laboratory is demolished by an evil gang. Altered by an experimental medical procedure, the man known as Darkman assumes 'identities' to reap revenge on his assailants.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 59% from 2,168 members
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  • Satisfaction on DVD (1988)
    Starring: Justine Bateman,  Liam Neeson,  Trini Alvarado
    Director: Joan Freeman
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Justine Bateman is Jennie, the lead singer in a rock band from a tough neighbourhood. Held together by Jennie's brains and determination, and armed with the raw energy of their music, they gatecrash high-society parties, learn some lessons on love and take their first steps on the uncertain road to ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 66% from 89 members
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  • High Spirits on DVD (1988)
    Starring: Daryl Hannah,  Peter O'Toole,  Steve Guttenburg
    Director: Neil Jordan
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    Peter O'Toole stars as the drunken owner of the Castle Hotel which he desperately needs to sell to pay off his endless bills. To attract buyers, he advertises the property as the most ghost-ridden hotel in the Emerald Isle... Unfortunately, when prospective buyers arrive, he press-gangs his loyal ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 65% from 1,346 member
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  • Suspect on DVD (1987)
    Starring: Dennis Quaid,  Cher,  Liam Neeson
    Director: Peter Yates
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    A Supreme Court judge takes his own life. A woman is found dead - victim of a grisly murder and a homeless Vietnam veteran stands accused. The Washington D.C. public defender and a lobbyist on the jury team up; a violation of the law - find out the real truth no matter the cost... or the danger...
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 64% from 584 members
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  • Lamb (1985)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Ian Bannen,  Frances Tomelty
    Director: Colin Gregg
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    A Catholic priest struggling with his faith is moved by the mistreatment of a deeply troubled boy at a school for delinquent youths on the Atrim Coast of Ireland. Renouncing his vows and taking the boy with him, the two head toward an uncertain fate.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 60% from 213 members
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  • The Bounty on DVD (1984)
    Starring: Mel Gibson,  Anthony Hopkins,  Edward Fox
    Director: Roger Donaldson
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    The familiar story of Captain Bligh, whose cruelty leads to a mutiny on his ship. This version follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the reach of British retribution, and the epic voyage of Captain Bligh to get his loyalists safely to East Timor in a tiny lifeboat.
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 63% from 2,243 members
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  • Trumbo
    Starring: Joan Allen,  Brian Dennehy,  Michael Douglas
    Director: Peter Askin
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    "Trumbo" is the story of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo's remarkable journey from Hollywood royalty to blacklisted writer to Academy Award winner. Focusing on the writer's own indelible words, the film features performances of some of his extraordinary letters, clips from his films and, archival and ..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 No ratings yet. Be the first.
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Liam Neeson - watch online


  • The Other Man to Watch Now (2008)
    Starring: Antonio Banderas,  Abigail Canton,  Amanda Drew
    Director: Richard Eyre
    Certificate: Certificate: 15 (TBC)
    Watch now: £3.49
    Run time: 84 minutes
    In this gripping suspense thriller, Oscar nominee Liam Neeson (Taken) is a man obsessed with uncovering the truth surrounding the disappearance of his wife (Oscar nominee Laura Linney). After stumbling across clues that take him to the streets of Milan, he tracks down his wife's charismatic lover (..read more »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 No ratings yet. Be the first.
    Watch now (£3.49)
  • K19 The Widowmaker to Watch Now (2002)
    Starring: Harrison Ford,  Liam Neeson,  Peter Sarsgaard
    Director: Kathryn Bigelow
    Certificate: Certificate: 12 (TBC)
    Watch now: £2.49
    Run time: 138 minutes
    Inspired by a true story, "K-19: The Widowmaker" follows Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) who, at the height of the Cold War, is ordered to take over command of the nuclear missile submarine K-19, pride of the Soviet Navy. His assignment: prepare the K-19 for sea and take her out on patrol -..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 65% from 44 members
    Watch now (£2.49)
  • Gun Shy to Watch Now (2000)
    Starring: Liam Neeson,  Oliver Platt,  Sandra Bullock
    Director: Eric Blakeney
    Certificate: Certificate: 15 (TBC)
    Watch now: £2.49
    Run time: 100 minutes
    Charlie is a legendary undercover Dea agent who has been involved in more drug busts than he cares to remember, except that his instinct for danger, cool composure and nerves of steel have failed him. In this, his final assignment, a number of larger than life characters are drawn together in a ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 65% from 2 members
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Liam Neeson facts

5 most recent films

Clash of the Titans - 3.5 stars
The A-Team - 4.0 stars
Ponyo on the Cliff - 4.0 stars
Five Minutes of Heaven - 3.0 stars
Chloe - 4.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

Batman Begins - BLU-RAY Version - 4.5 stars
Schindler's List - 4.0 stars
Taken - BLU-RAY Version - 4.0 stars
Taken - 4.0 stars
Ponyo on the Cliff - 4.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Trumbo - 3 stars
Everest - 2.0 stars
The Other Man - 2.0 stars
Ruby Cairo - 2.0 stars
Xavier - Missionary And Saint - 2.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Jim Broadbent - 8 times - show films
Brendan Gleeson - 7 times - show films
Georgie Henley - 6 times - show films
Skandar Keynes - 6 times - show films
William Moseley - 6 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Andrew Adamson - 6 times - show films
Martin Scorsese - 4 times - show films
Neil Jordan - 3 times - show films
Eric Blakeney - 2 times - show films
David Breashears - 2 times - show films