Liam Neeson Profile and Images

Liam Neeson Profile

Name:Liam Neeson
Full Name:William John Neeson
Date of Birth:Saturday June 7 1952
Born:United Kingdom
Nationality:United Kingdom

orn on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, North Ireland, Neeson was raised in a working class family headed by his father, Barney, a custodian at a Catholic school, and his mother, Kitty, a cook in the public school system. When he was nine, Neeson began his amateur boxing career, though he was not allowed to compete until he was 11. He became Northern Ireland champion for three years, spending six years as the champion of his diocese. When he was about 15, Neeson entered the ring for three rounds against a British boy who proceeded to beat him senseless. Regardless, Neeson made it through the fight and even believed he had won. But when he climbed out of the ring, he suffered a blackout walking up a flight of stairs, which led him to quit the sport for good. By the time he reached Queen's University, Neeson had his sights set on becoming a teacher and began taking courses in physics. Because he lacked the structure and guidance he had enjoyed in his previous schooling, Neeson immediately became depressed and failed to return after completing his first year.
Neeson made an equally failed attempt to attend a teacher's college, which led to jobs as a forklift operator for the Guinness brewery and as an architect's apprentice. In 1976, he ventured into acting on a lark when he auditioned for Belfast's Lyric Players' Theatre Company. As luck would have it, the company was looking for someone to play the role of Irish Labor leader Big Jim Larkin in "The Risen People" (1976). Neeson was given the job thanks in part to his uncommon height (6'4"). Though only on stage for three minutes, Neeson nonetheless impressed the company enough to earn a spot with the Players, with whom he acted for two more years. After a move to Dublin, Neeson joined that city's famed Abbey Theatre, where a starring role as Lenny in a production of "Of Mice and Men" (1980) won the attention of director John Boorman, who cast the imposing actor as sword-wielding Sir Gawain in "Excalibur" (1981), a sweeping fantasy adventure about the famed Arthurian quest for the Holy Grail. Though "Excalibur" marked his official feature film debut, Neeson previously appeared on celluloid when he played the role of Jesus in an educational film adaptation of "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1979).