Neeson, Liam (1952– )

Irish film and stage actor. In the 1990s he established himself as a leading man, winning acclaim for his performances in Sam Raimi's Darkman (1990) and Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992), and an Academy Award nomination for his role as Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993). He has since featured in Michael Collins (1996), Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Love Actually (2003), and Kinsey (2004).

His other films include The Bounty (1984), The Mission (1986), Suspect (1987), Under Suspicion (1992), Ethan Frome (1993), Nell (1994), Rob Roy (1995), Les Misérables (1997), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), and Gangs of New York (2002). In the theatre, his performances include a successful production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible on Broadway, New York City, in 2002.

Neeson turned to acting at a relatively late age, appearing on the stage in Belfast and Dublin. He was discovered in the early 1980s by British director John Boorman, who cast him as Sir Gawain in Excalibur (1981). He then appeared in the US fantasy film Krull (1983), the first of a series of secondary film roles he played throughout the 1980s. He is married to English actor Natasha Richardson.