The tragic life of the top action star in showbiz: Fired for punching a student, had to remove his wife’s breathing tube with his own hands

Behind that cold, strong appearance is a life full of tragedy and tears.

When mentioning Liam Neeson , many people will immediately remember the image of the “old” father often seen in action movies. Famous from the role of Bryan Mills in the Taken series , this star continuously dominated the box office with a series of action blockbusters such as Batman Begins , The Grey , The Unknown ,… But behind such a tough and cool appearance, in reality, he has a tragic and tearful personal life.

Growing up in troubled times

Born in 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Liam grew up in a time of great historical upheaval. This was a time of constant religious conflict and confrontation in Northern Ireland, as well as conflict between the Northern Irish and British governments. In an interview with CNN, he recalled that he was raised Catholic, but the area where he lived was predominantly Protestant. As a result, there were frequent conflicts, leading to the deaths of thousands of people, and he always had to be careful before going out.

Liam as a child with his sisters

But despite living in conflict and contradiction since childhood, Liam was still shocked when the “Bloody Sunday” event in Ireland took place. Specifically, on January 13, 1972, British police shot dead 13 protesters and injured 17 others when these people marched to protest the British policy of detaining Irish people suspected of supporting nationalism. At that time, he was in class to observe a lesson. But when he got to class, Liam discovered that there were only three students in the class. To find out what happened, he rushed outside and saw more than 200 students protesting and the bloody event had occurred. Talking about this, he always considered it a “horrifying” experience and a “wake-up call” for him.

Fired for trying to save lives

Before becoming an actor, Liam had worked in a variety of jobs, including a forklift driver in a brewery, an apprentice, and a teacher. But during his internship, he encountered some awkward situations in his first days in the classroom.

Young Liam Neeson

Sharing about this time with ESPN, he said that while he was trying to teach and calm the class, a student was still causing trouble. Therefore, he went to this person and asked him to stand up and leave the classroom. However, the student did not listen and even took out a knife to threaten him.

Surprised by this behavior, he felt threatened and punched the boy. Because of this act of trying to protect himself, he was fired and expelled from the teaching profession.

Almost died at 48

In 2000, Liam Neeson had a near-fatal accident while driving home in New York. According to the New York Post, while driving his ’89 Harley Davidson, he lost control of his car and crashed into a tree. The actor “struggled to crawl onto the road” and was rescued by a passerby.

Actor on crutches after accident

The Taken star was given a heavy dose of morphine when he was admitted to hospital . After recovering, he said he “thought I wouldn’t survive that night” but felt lucky to have pulled through and considered morphine a miracle drug. However, he was worried that his children would be negatively affected by his father’s medication.

Had to remove wife’s breathing tube by hand

On March 16, 2009, while skiing at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec, Canada, Liam’s wife, actress Natasha Richardson, rolled down the hill and hit her head on a rock while not wearing a helmet. Initially, the actress appeared to be unharmed and did not require medical attention. However, after an hour, she developed a severe headache and was rushed to hospital.

Hearing the bad news, Liam quickly left the Chloe set in Toronto to be with his wife. The Taken star then took his wife to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York for treatment, but was unable to save her. Natasha fell into a brain-dead and vegetative state. Liam eventually kept his wife in a vegetative state so that family and friends could say goodbye and removed her breathing tube himself. After Natasha passed away, her body was donated to three other people, giving them a new life.

Liam and his family at his wife’s funeral

Liam was devastated by his wife’s death. In the early days, he couldn’t believe that she was gone and still felt like he could hear her voice when he came home. He then had to undergo dozens of psychological tests to prove that he was okay and from then on, he never married again.

The eldest son was in crisis before his mother’s departure.

When Natasha died, his eldest son, Micheál Neeson, was only 13 years old. After his mother’s death, Micheál fell into a deep depression and became violent.

The actor with his eldest son Micheál

In 2014, after days of partying, he realized he was in a bad situation and decided to follow his father’s advice to go to a treatment center. Fortunately, he eventually overcame this bad situation and is doing well. In 2018, Micheál changed his surname from Neeson to Richardson as a way to honor his late mother.