Liam Neeson Biography (2)
In March of 2002, Liam Neeson returned to Broadway, co-starring with Laura Linney in Arthur Miller's critically acclaimed play The Crucible at The Virgin Theater. Neeson's performance as John Proctor earned him a 2002 Tony Award nomination. He is currently in production on the movie Kinsey, playing Professor Alfred Kinsey (who wrote the famous male and female sex reports in the 1940s/50s), re-teaming once again with Laura Linney; the film is directed by Bill Condon, who wrote the screenplay, and co-stars Chris O'Donnell.
In 2002, Neeson was seen in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Also, he starred opposite Harrison Ford in the true story of Russia's nuclear submarine tragedy entitled K-19: The Widowmaker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow.
In 2000, he was seen in Gun Shy, a black comedy in which he starred opposite Sandra Bullock. Liam played a world-weary DEA agent who is looking forward to retirement, but must get through one final difficult case before he is able to proceed with his plans. In 1999, Liam starred in the box-office phenomenon Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, 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. Later that year, he starred in The Haunting, a tale involving a haunted New England mansion and a group of people struggling to escape its terrors; the film was directed by Jan de Bont and co-starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor.
In 1998, he starred in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables in the role of Jean Valjean, co-starring 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 on March 19th, and subsequently on Broadway on April 29th.
In 1996, Neeson starred in the title role in Neil Jordan's Michael Collins, 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. For decades, filmmakers such as legendary directors John Huston and Robert Redford worked to bring this life story of the Irish Republican hero to the big screen. None of those attempts got off the ground until Neil Jordan and Liam Neeson teamed up with the studio backing of producer David Geffen. The film opened worldwide to critical acclaim and set box office records in Europe.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher, attending Queens College, Belfast, and majoring in physics, computer science and math. 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 Arthurian legend, Excalibur. Following his motion picture debut in Excalibur, Neeson has appeared in more than 30 films, demonstrating a wide range of characters, including Dino De Laurentiis' 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 as a Jesuit priest in Roland Joffe's The Mission, co-starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons.
Neeson next 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 who 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 recent credits include: 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 Canton-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 playing to sold-out audiences nightly, the run was extended and garnered Neeson 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.
Also in 1993, Neeson was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award in the Best Actor categories for portraying Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's highly acclaimed Schindler's List.
In the year 2000, he received an OBE from the Queen for services to drama.
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