Acting · Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK · Born June 7, 1952
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an Irish actor. He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and educated at Saint Patrick's College, Ballymena Technical College and Queen's University Belfast. He moved to Dublin after university to further his acting career, joining the renowned Abbey Theatre. In the early 1990s, he moved again to the United States, where the wide acclaim for his performance in Schindler's List led to more high-profile work. He is widowed and lives in New York with his two sons. He has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards. He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Alfred Kinsey in Kinsey, Ras Al Ghul in Batman Begins and the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia film series. He has also starred in several other notable films, from major Hollywood studio releases (ie. Excalibur, The Dead Pool, Nell, Rob Roy, The Haunting, Love Actually, Kingdom of Heaven, Taken, Clash of the Titans, The A-Team, Unknown) to smaller arthouse films (ie. Deception, Breakfast on Pluto, Chloe).
MovieThe Mongoose
2026
as Ryan "Fang" Flanagan
The Fix
2026
as Larry
MovieCold Storage
2026
as Robert Quinn
MovieIrvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough
2025
as Narrator
MovieThe Naked Gun
2025
as Frank Drebin Jr.
MovieIce Road: Vengeance
2025
as Mike McCann
TVDavid Frost Vs
2025
as self
MovieAbsolution
2024
as Thug
MovieWildcat
2024
as Father Flynn
MovieOur Blue World: A Water Odyssey
2024
as Narrator
TVConan O'Brien Must Go
2024
as Bryan Mills (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieIn the Land of Saints and Sinners
2023
as Finbar Murphy
MovieRetribution
2023
as Matt Turner
MovieMarlowe
2023
as Philip Marlowe
MoviePaul Muldoon: Laoithe is Lirici
2022
as Self
MovieBonnie
2022
as Self
TVStar Wars: Tales of the Jedi
2022
as Qui-Gon Jinn (voice)
MovieObi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return
2022
as Self - Qui-Gon Jinn
TVObi-Wan Kenobi
2022
as Qui-Gon Jinn (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieMemory
2022
as Alex Lewis
TVBenjamin Franklin
2022
as Alexander Wedderburn / Ambassador Lord Stormont (voice)
MovieIreland
2022
MovieBlacklight
2022
as Travis Block
MovieBrian Friel: Shy Man, Showman
2022
as Self
MovieThe Ice Road
2021
as Mike McCann
MovieThe Marksman
2021
as Jim
WAMEGO: Addendum
2020
MovieHonest Thief
2020
as Tom Dolan
MovieMade in Italy
2020
as Robert
MovieThe Hunger: The Story of the Irish Famine
2020
as Self - Narrator (voice)
MovieStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
2019
as Qui-Gon Jinn (voice)
MovieOrdinary Love
2019
as Tom
MovieBrave Blue World: Racing to Solve Our Water Crisis
2019
as Narrator
MovieLost Lives
2019
as Self (voice)
MovieMen in Black: International
2019
as Agent High T
MovieNice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast
2019
as Self - Actor
MovieCold Pursuit
2019
as Nels Coxman
An Oral History of: Schindler's List
2018
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018
as Impresario (segment "Meal Ticket")
MovieWidows
2018
as Harry Rawlings
MovieSchindler's List: 25 Years Later
2018
as Self
MovieThe Last Horsemen of New York
2018
TVPope: The Most Powerful Man in History
2018
as Self - Narrator
MovieThe Commuter
2018
as Michael MacCauley
TVDerry Girls
2018
as Chief Inspector Byers
MovieAnd the Winner Isn't
2017
as Self
MovieDaddy's Home 2
2017
as Liam Neeson (voice) (uncredited)
MovieSpielberg
2017
as Self - Segment "Schindler's List"
MovieMark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House
2017
as Mark Felt
MovieIn the Name of Peace: John Hume in America
2017
as Narrator
TVThe Orville
2017
as Jahavus Dorahl
MovieMartin Scorsese's Journey Into Silence
2017
as Self
MovieRed Nose Day Actually
2017
as Daniel
MovieKarenina & I
2017
as Leo Tolstoy
MovieSilence
2016
as Ferreira
TVDream Corp LLC
2016
as Joey in the Center of Her Mind (voice)
MovieA Monster Calls
2016
as The Monster (voice)
MovieHow to Defuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story
2016
as Narrator (voice)
TVAtlanta
2016
as Liam Neeson
MovieOperation Chromite
2016
as Douglas MacArthur
MovieLove Thy Nature
2016
as Self - Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Last Laugh
2016
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieThe Huntsman: Winter's War
2016
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
MovieA Fanatic Heart: Geldof On Yeats
2016
as Self
TV1916
2016
as Narrator
MovieA Christmas Star
2015
as Narrator / Radio DJ
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self
TVNature Is Speaking
2015
as Ice
MovieTed 2
2015
as Customer
MovieEntourage
2015
as Liam Neeson
MovieRun All Night
2015
as Jimmy Conlon
MovieManny
2014
as Narrator
MovieTaken 3
2014
as Bryan Mills
MovieA Walk Among the Tombstones
2014
as Matthew Scudder
MovieKahlil Gibran's The Prophet
2014
as Mustafa (voice)
MovieThird Person
2014
as Michael
MovieRoad
2014
as Narrator (voice)
MovieA Million Ways to Die in the West
2014
as Clinch
MovieWild Japan: Snow Monkeys
2014
as Self - Narrator
MovieNon-Stop
2014
as Bill Marks
TVLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self - Guest
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
MovieThe Lego Movie
2014
as Bad Cop / Good Cop / Pa Cop (voice)
MovieThe Nut Job
2014
as Raccoon (voice)
MovieExcalibur: Behind the Movie
2013
as Self
MovieAnchorman 2: The Legend Continues
2013
as History Channel Host (uncredited)
MovieThe Fire Rises: The Creation and Impact of The Dark Knight Trilogy
2013
as Self (archive footage)
MovieKhumba
2013
as Phango (voice)
MovieJeff Wayne's Musical Version of the War of the Worlds - The New Generation: Alive on Stage!
2013
as The Journalist
MovieGirl Rising
2013
as Narrator (voice)
MovieTaken 2
2012
as Bryan Mills
MovieThe Dark Knight Rises
2012
as Ra's Al Ghul
MovieDynamic Earth: Exploring Earth's Climate Engine
2012
as Narrator (voice)
MovieBattleship
2012
as Admiral Shane
MovieWrath of the Titans
2012
as Zeus
MovieThe Secret Policeman's Ball
2012
as Self
MovieThe Grey
2012
as John Ottway
TVLife's Too Short
2011
as Liam Neeson
TVThe Jonathan Ross Show
2011
as Self
MovieA Child's Garden of Poetry
2011
as Self (voice)
MovieUnknown
2011
as Dr. Martin Harris
TVBuccaneers & Bones
2010
MovieThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
2010
as Aslan (voice)
MovieThe Next Three Days
2010
as Damon
TVConan
2010
as Self
MovieThe Wildest Dream
2010
as Narrator
MovieThe A-Team
2010
as Hannibal
MovieClash of the Titans
2010
as Zeus
MovieChloe
2010
as David Stewart
MovieAfter.Life
2009
as Eliot Deacon
TVLive from Studio Five
2009
as Self
TVWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
as Self - Guest
MovieFive Minutes of Heaven
2009
as Alistair Little
MovieThe Other Man
2008
as Peter
MovieThe Making of Fallout 3: The Vault-Tec Files
2008
as Self
TVStar Wars: The Clone Wars
2008
as Qui-Gon Jinn (voice)
MovieThe Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
2008
as Aslan (voice)
MovieTaken
2008
as Bryan Mills
MovieThe Birth of Christ
2007
as Self - Narrator
MovieTrumbo
2007
as Self
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieSeraphim Falls
2007
as Carver
MovieSergeant York: Of God and Country
2006
MovieHome
2006
MovieXavier
2006
as Narrator
TVEl hormiguero
2006
as Self
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self - Guest
MovieThe Path to Redemption
2006
as Self
MovieEugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film
2006
as Self
MovieBlack Holes: The Other Side of Infinity
2006
as Narrator
MovieThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2005
as Aslan (voice)
MovieBreakfast on Pluto
2005
as Father Liam
MovieBatman Begins
2005
as Ducard
MovieKingdom of Heaven
2005
as Godfrey de Ibelin
MovieGeorge Lucas: Creating an Empire
2005
as Self
MovieHappy Birthday Oscar Wilde
2004
as Self
MovieKinsey
2004
as Alfred Kinsey
MovieThe Story of Star Wars
2004
as Qui-Gon Jinn (archive footage)
MoviePatrick
2004
as Narrator
MovieSesame Street: What's the Name of That Song?
2004
as Self (archive footage)
TVThe Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
as Self
MovieLove Actually
2003
as Daniel
MovieMartin Luther
2003
as Self - Narrator (voice)
TVMartin Luther
2003
as Self - Narrator (voice)
MovieUncovering the Real Gangs of New York
2003
as Self
MovieCoral Reef Adventure
2003
as Narrator (voice)
TVJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self - Guest
MovieGangs of New York
2002
as 'Priest' Vallon
TVLiberty's Kids
2002
as John Paul Jones (voice)
MovieK-19: The Widowmaker
2002
as Mikhail Polenin
MovieThe Big Bang
2002
as Self
MovieStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
2002
as Qui-Gon Jinn (voice)
MovieThe Maze
2002
as Narrator
MovieThe Beginning: The Making of Star Wars Episode I
2001
as Self
The Mind's Big Bang
2001
as Self
TVEvolution
2001
as Narrator
MovieJourney into Amazing Caves
2001
as Narrator (voice)
MovieInside The Space Station
2000
as Self - Narrator
MovieThe Endurance
2000
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Greeks: Crucible of Civilization
2000
as Narrator
TVThe Greeks: Crucible of Civilization
2000
as Self - Narrator
MovieGun Shy
2000
as Charles Mayough
MovieThe Haunting
1999
as Dr. David Marrow
MovieStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
1999
as Qui-Gon Jinn
TVFamily Guy
1999
as Liam Neeson (voice)
MovieLes Misérables
1998
as Jean Valjean
MovieEverest
1998
as Narrator
TVParkinson
1998
as Self
TVThe View
1997
as Self
A Leap of Faith
1996
as Narrator (voice)
MovieMichael Collins
1996
as Michael Collins
TVThe Daily Show
1996
as Self
TVThe Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996
as Self - Guest
MovieBefore and After
1996
as Ben Ryan
MovieClark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
1996
as Host
MovieLumière & Company
1995
as (segment "John Boorman")
MovieOut of Ireland
1995
as William Murphy (voice)
MovieRob Roy
1995
as Robert Roy MacGregor
MovieMiss Sarajevo
1995
as Self
MovieNell
1994
as Dr. Lovell
MovieSchindler's List
1993
as Oskar Schindler
TVLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
MovieEthan Frome
1993
as Ethan Frome
MovieLeap of Faith
1992
as Sheriff Will Braverman
MovieRuby Cairo
1992
as Fergus Lamb
MovieHusbands and Wives
1992
as Michael Gates
MovieShining Through
1992
as Franze-Otto Dietrich
MovieRevolver
1991
as Man
MovieUnder Suspicion
1991
as Tony Aaron
MovieThe Big Man
1990
as Danny Scoular
MovieDarkman
1990
as Peyton Westlake / Darkman
TVThe Simpsons
1989
as Father Sean (voice)
MovieNext of Kin
1989
as Briar Gates
MovieHigh Spirits
1988
as Martin Brogan
MovieThe Good Mother
1988
as Leo Cutter
TVThis Morning
1988
as Self
MovieThe Dead Pool
1988
as Peter Swan
MovieSatisfaction
1988
as Martin Falcon
MovieSweet as You Are
1988
as Martin Perry
MovieSuspect
1987
as Carl Wayne Anderson
MovieA Prayer for the Dying
1987
as Liam Docherty
TVHold the Dream
1987
as Blackie O'Neill
MovieSworn to Silence
1987
as Vincent Cauley
MovieDuet for One
1986
as Totter
MovieLamb
1986
as Michael Lamb
MovieThe Mission
1986
as Father John Fielding
TVIf Tomorrow Comes
1986
as André Trignant
MovieThe Delta Force
1986
as Delta Force Member (uncredited)
MovieArthur the King
1985
as Grak
MovieThe Innocent
1985
as John Carns
TVScreen Two
1985
as Martin Perry
TVA Woman of Substance
1985
as Blackie O'Neill
TVEllis Island
1984
as Kevin Murray
TVMiami Vice
1984
as Sean Carroon
MovieThe Bounty
1984
as Charles Churchill
MovieAn Audience with Mel Brooks
1984
as Self (uncredited)
Goldene Kamera
1984
as Self
MovieKrull
1983
as Kegan
MovieAcross the Water
1983
as Martin
TVNature
1982
as Narrator (voice)
TVAmerican Playhouse
1982
as Ethan Frome
MovieNailed
1981
as Young Catholic
MovieExcalibur
1981
as Gawain
MovieMy Dear Palestrina
1980
as Blacksmith
MovieChristiana
1979
as Greatheart
The Last Window Cleaner
1979
as Self
MovieDinner at the Sporting Club
1978
as Dermot
MoviePilgrim's Progress
1978
as Evangelist / Mr. Goodwill / Mr. Interpreter / Jesus Christ
TVAn Audience with...
1978
as Self
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
TVPlayhouse
1974
as Blacksmith
TVPlay for Today
1970
as Him
TV60 Minutes
1968
as Self
TVOmnibus
1967
TVTony Awards
1956
as Self - Nominee
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Nominee
The Riker's Ghost
Narco Sub
The Trainer
as John Moore
Movie4 Kids Walk Into a Bank
as Danny
Charlie Johnson in the Flames
Cold Pursuit 2
as Nels Coxman
MoviePlague of Corruption: 80 Years of Pharmaceutical Corruption Exposed
as Narrator (voice)
MovieEvolution - Darwin's Dangerous Idea
as Narrator
The Nut Job 3
as Raccoon (voice)
The Splendid Thing
