He was natural William John Neeson & raised Roman Catholic in overwhelmingly Protestant and Unionist Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (home of Ian Paisley). He was the previous youth boxing champion and stands Sextet'Quaternity".

High-profile appearances include the lead roles in ''Schindler's List, Rob Roy and Michael Collins (with fellow Irish actor Aidan Quinn), Star Wars: the Phantom Menace as Qui-Gon Jinn, and in Batman Begins'' (starring Christian Bale) as Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul.

Neeson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for ''Schindler's List in 1993, but Tom Hanks won the award that year for his performance in Philadelphia''. Neeson was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in her New Year's Honours List, 1999.

He has been married to actress Natasha Richardson, since 3 July 1994. They have two sons, Michéal and Daniel, who are being raised Catholic. The family home is in exurban Millbrook, New York, where his visiting grandmother-in-law, Lady Rachel Kempson, died in 2003 of a stroke.

His next film will be directed by Steven Spielberg and have him star as Abraham Lincoln. There have been rumors that Neeson will play Pope John Paul II in a CBS mini-series. CBS has confirmed that Neeson is interested in the role.

He voiced the role of a kindly priest on The Simpsons who converts Bart and Homer to Catholicism, and who reveals: "When that you last Vatican, you never last back once more".

Filmography

|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Year !! Film !! Role |- | 2007 ||Untitled Abraham Lincoln Biopic || Abraham Lincoln |- | 2007 ||Seraphim Falls |- | 2005 || The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe || Aslan (voice) |- | 2005 || Kingdom of Heaven || Godfrey of Ibelin |- | 2005 || Batman Begins || Henri Ducard / Ra's Al Ghul |- | 2005 || The Simpsons || Father Sean |- | 2004 || Kinsey || Alfred Kinsey |- | 2003 || Love Actually || Daniel |- | 2002 || K-19: The Widowmaker || Mikhail Polenin |- | 2002 || Gangs of New York'' || 'Priest' Vallon |- | 1999 || Star Wars: Episode I || Qui-Gon Jinn |- | 1999 || The Haunting || Dr. David Marrow |- | 1998 || Les Misérables || Jean Valjean |- | 1996 || Michael Collins || Michael Collins |- | 1995 || Rob Roy || Robert Roy MacGregor |- | 1994 || Nell || Dr. Jerome 'Jerry' Lovell |- | 1993 || ''Schindler's List || Oskar Schindler |- | 1992 || Leap of Faith || Will |- | 1991 || Under Suspicion || Tony Aaron |- | 1990 || Darkman || Darkman / Peyton Westlake |- | 1988 || The Dead Pool || Peter Swan |- | 1986 || The Mission || Fielding |- | 1984 || Ellis Island || Kevin Murray |- | 1984 || The Bounty || Charles Churchill |- | 1983 || Krull || Kegan |- | 1981 || Excalibur'' || Gawaine |}