Irish-born Neeson 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' Theater and made his professional acting debut in the play "The Risen People". After two years, Neeson moved to Dublin's Abbey Theater where he performed the classics. It was here that he was spotted by director John Boorman and was cast in the film Excalibur, which dealt with the Arthurian legend. 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. Neeson did not play the lead in a movie until he appeared in Darkman. Good performances in Leap of Faith and Husbands and Wives led to Neeson being picked for the role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. 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. In the next 2 years, Neeson played characters close to his roots when he was the eighteenth century Scottish Highlander Rob Roy and the Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins.


On 11 July 2000 he fractured his right pelvis and chipped his left pelvis and sustained multiple abrasions to his legs after hitting a deer while riding his 1989 Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Connecticut. He was thrown off the motorcycle just before it smashed into a nearby tree. A passing motorist found him crawling along the roadside. Due to this accident he was unable to appear as a "Force Ghost" in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), and is only heard as a disembodied voice in the scene following Anakin's slaughter of the Tusken Raider Camp. He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of British Empire) in the 2000 Queen's Millennium Honors List for his services to drama. Loves fly-fishing Won a libel case against newspapers who claimed that his marriage was in trouble. [October 1998] Has dated actresses Helen Mirren, Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Barbra Streisand and singer Sinéad O'Connor. Son-in-law of actress Vanessa Redgrave and Tony Richardson. Attended Queen's University of Belfast for a short while to study physics and computer science, but flunked out. Was connected to David Lean's production of "Nostromo", but he withdrew before pre-production began and Lean's subsequent death. Brother-in-law of Joely Richardson. Wanted to be in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) so badly, he didn't even bother reading the script. A member of the Dublin Shakespeare Theatre Festival where his past credits include "Hamlet", "King Richard II" and "All's Well That Ends Well". Though he was eager to be a part of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) (the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogy), he reportedly hated working on the film, once shooting started, remarking that he "felt like a puppet". Auditioned for, and was accepted by, the Bristol Old Vic Drama School in England, but decided to attend the Gaiety School of acting instead so he could stay active with the Dublin Shakespeare Festival while in school. Was very active with the Royal National Theatre in London during the nineties where he performed a wide range of Shakespeare's works. It was his role in Shining Through (1992) as a high Nazi party official that got him noticed by Steven Spielberg, and that eventually led to him being cast as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List (1993). Schindler's List (1993) is ranked #3 on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. Friend of actor Henry Herman. In an interview with the BBC, he said that Northern Irish Protestant minister Ian Paisley influenced his decision to become an actor. He use to sneak into the church in his hometown of Ballymena and watch Mr. Paisley preach. "He had a magnificent presence and it was incredible to watch this six foot-plus man just bible-thumping away. It was acting but it was also great acting and stirring too.". Received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Queen's University of Belfast, at the British consulate on May 6, 2009 in New York.