Talk:Liam Neeson

Football match

Is this really worth reporting in his bio? "On 4th April 2009, he was in attendance watching his team Liverpool play Fulham at Craven Cottage with his two sons, just 2 weeks after the death of his wife." Watching a football match is not a major event, and the mention of it being "just 2 weeks after the death of his wife" may be subtly trying to suggest disapproval of this. I think this should be removed as being a piece of trivia. Fences&Windows 23:03, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Mention of attendance by a game.

I have never attempted to edit something here, but I question the wording and the neccesity of mentioning that he attended a game with his young children 2 weeks after his wife's passing. Are we supposed to care or worse supposed to think he is a bad husband for going to a game so soon after? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.212.21.173 (talk) 02:21, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Star Wars

What is so special about the Star Wars movies that they require a section seperate from his other movie roles? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.197.217.20 (talk) 17:55, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Clearly you were not living in america in 99. Skute (talk) 19:00, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

StarWars deserves its own section because the bloated hype machine created by geekdom wouldn't have it any other way. The fact that only 2½ out of 6 StarWars movies are any good is beside the point. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.226.210.7 (talk) 15:11, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

Star Wars was significant because Neeson, after having a terrible time working with Lucas, said he would retire from movie-making altogether. I remember reading this about a decade ago. ---Ransom (--67.91.216.67 (talk) 00:51, 23 November 2010 (UTC))

His age is in question

People magazine, a Time Inc. publication with an army of editors and fact-checkers, says he's 56: "Liam Neeson Dating a 'Wonderful' Mom of Two", by Oliver Jones, Wednesday September 15, 2010 03:20 PM EDT. We need to address this the discrepancy. Where did the other date come from? If it's IMDb, it's not reliable. --Tenebrae (talk) 21:37, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

The Boston Fox-TV affiliate also gives 56: [1]. And People and Star magazines give different sets of ages to his two children. --Tenebrae (talk) 21:45, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

The gossip magazine are wrong, as are the people parroting their age. Or are all these non-gossip magazine sources wrong? 2 lines of K₃₀₃ 12:55, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

Dr. Liam Neeson

Honorary Doctorate here Is this worth mentioning? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.41.229.134 (talk) 05:57, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

It can be mentioned further down the article along with his OBE and other minor honours. It should not appear in the opening sentence. See this wikipedia policy. 86.45.61.211 (talk) 19:38, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Miami Vice guest appearance

Does anyone exept me think that it is worth mentioning that he had a noteable guest appearance in the 'Miami Vice' TV series? In the opening episode of the third season ('When Irish eyes are crying') he played the crook Sean Caroon. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.170.70.194 (talk) 16:56, 18 December 2010 (UTC)

Nationality

"I'm still a proud Irishman, of course, but I've become an American citizen". No mention of being proud to be British is there? Since the Good Friday Agreement gives people the right to be Irish or British, he is quite entitled to be Irish. Therefore I have removed the infobox field addition. O Fenian (talk) 12:09, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

In addition, this Interview with Liam Neeson (2004): 'LIAM: Well that seems vulnerable to go into because it’s personal. But let’s just say, I’m Irish. I grew up in the 1950s. Religion had a very tight iron fist.' Captain Fearnought (talk) 14:31, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

That's how it works in the UK. You have the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. Few people refer to themselves as British. The Good Friday agreement has no standing in law and does not mean that you're an Irish citizen as just because you call yourself Irish. There is no evidence that he has claimed Irish citizenship. The fact is that he accepted an OBE in 1999 and they are only awarded to British citizens. Eckerslike (talk) 15:05, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Read. The. Good. Friday. Agreement. Then. Read. What. Liam. Neeson. Says.

Or if that is too difficult for you. "Irish actor Liam Neeson" versus "British actor Liam Neeson", standard Google search. 288,000 for Irish (372 unique, which is the better measure), 88,900 for British (40 unique). Google News search including archives. 172 for Irish, 4 for British. Google Books search. 68 for Irish, 0 for British!

If you want to claim there is no evidence he has Irish nationality, I will point out there is equally no evidence he still has British nationality.

The sources are overwhelmingly clear, as is Neeson himself, he is Irish. O Fenian (talk) 16:05, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Addition of OBE after his name

Wikipedia's policy on this issue is here and is quite clear: 'Post-nominal letters, other than those denoting academic degrees, should be included when they are issued by a country or widely recognizable organization with which the subject has been closely associated. Honors issued by other entities may be mentioned in the article, but generally should be omitted from the lead.' This does not apply to Neeson who is Irish born and bred, lived in Dublin for years where he acted in the world-famous Abbey Theatre and, most importantly, defines himself repeatedly as Irish, not British. His only connection with Britain is the same as John Hume or Gerry Adams, namely continuing British rule over Irish nationalists in Ireland. Under international law, people in Northern Ireland have the right to define themselves as Irish only. This should be respected in this article. As such, this award by Britain should be placed in the article alongside his many other awards from other countries, and indeed from his home country. The OBE should be, to quote wikipedia policy, 'mentioned in the article, but generally should be omitted from the lead'. Captain Fearnought (talk) 14:50, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

He is definitely British as confirmed by the awarding of the OBE. See above. See also [2]. Note the use of "we", "our movie council" and "the government". Eckerslike (talk) 15:05, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

Incorrect on both counts. 1) The OBE is awarded to very many people who aren't British. Similarly, French, US and other awards are often given to people who aren't French, American etc. A person who accepts those awards does not implicitly accept they are of that nationality. That would be silly. 2) If you have evidence of Liam Neeson describing himself as British, you should produce it. Until you do, in line with Wikipedia policy his repeated self-definition as Irish stands. Captain Fearnought (talk) 16:42, 19 December 2010 (UTC)