Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing
Davos Seaworth
Davos Seaworth, also known as the Onion Knight or Davos Shorthand, is a fictional character from the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of epic fantasy novels by American writer George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones ...
in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
epic-fantasy series ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
''.
Cunningham has been nominated for the
London Film Critics' Circle Award, the
British Independent Film Award
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...
, has won two
Irish Film & Television Awards
The IFTA Film & Drama Awards are awards given by the Irish Film & Television Academy for Irish television and film, the awards began in 1999. The ceremonies recognise Irish creative talent working in film, drama, and television, and winners receiv ...
, and shared a
BAFTA with
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...
, for their crime-drama short film ''Pitch Black Heist''. His film roles include ''
A Little Princess
''A Little Princess'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book in 1905. It is an expanded version of the short story "Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's", which was serialized in ''St. Nicholas Ma ...
'' (1995), ''
Jude'' (1996), ''
Dog Soldiers
The Dog Soldiers or Dog Men (Cheyenne: ''Hotamétaneo'o'') are historically one of six Cheyenne military societies. Beginning in the late 1830s, this society evolved into a separate, militaristic band that played a dominant role in Cheyenne re ...
'' (2002), ''
The Crooked Man'' (2003), ''
The Wind That Shakes the Barley'' (2006), ''
Hunger
In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the ...
'' (2008), ''
The Escapist'' (2008), ''
Good Vibrations
"Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record ...
'' (2013), ''
Let Us Prey
''Let Us Prey'' is the fourth studio album by English doom metal band Electric Wizard. It was released through Rise Above Records in 2002 and was the last album to feature Electric Wizard's original line-up. After its release, Tim Bagshaw and ...
'' (2014) and ''
The Childhood of a Leader'' (2015). In 2020, he was listed at number 36 on ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Early life
Cunningham was born in
East Wall
East Wall () is an inner city area of the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Built on reclaimed ground in the 1820s, the area is also 30 minutes walk from Dublin's main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street.
Location
East Wall is bounded by West Road to t ...
, which is an inner city area of the
Northside
Northside or North Side may refer to:
Music
* Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England
* NorthSide, an American record label
* NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark
* "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...
of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. He grew up in Kilmore West with his three sisters and a brother. Cunningham left secondary school at 15 and pursued a career as an electrician. In the 1980s, Cunningham moved to
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
for three years where he maintained electrical equipment at a safari park and trained Zimbabwean electricians. After returning to Ireland, Cunningham became dissatisfied with his work as an electrician and decided to pursue his interest in acting. He attended acting classes and began to work in local theatre, including the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
. He appeared in a production of ''Studs'' at The Tricycle Theatre in
Kilburn, London.
Career
![Liam Cunningham 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Liam_Cunningham_2013.jpg)
Cunningham's debut film role came in ''
Into the West'' (1992), where he played a police officer. His on-screen acting continued with roles in ''
War of the Buttons'' (1994), and ''
A Little Princess
''A Little Princess'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book in 1905. It is an expanded version of the short story "Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's", which was serialized in ''St. Nicholas Ma ...
'' (1995), before making his role as Phillotson in ''
Jude'' (1996). He continued with character roles in ''
Falling for a Dancer
''Falling for a Dancer'' is an Irish 1998 romantic drama television movie set in rural Ireland in the 1930s. It first aired on BBC One in four 50-minute episodes on 13 September 1998.
Plot
Set in 1930s Cork, nineteen-year-old Elizabeth has a b ...
'' (TV, 1998), ''
RKO 281
''RKO 281'' is a 1999 American historical drama film directed by Benjamin Ross and starring Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, Roy Scheider, and Liam Cunningham. The film depicts the troubled production behind the ...
'' (1999), ''
Shooting the Past
''Shooting the Past'' is a television drama by Stephen Poliakoff, produced by TalkBack Productions for BBC Two and first shown in 1999. It was TalkBack's first drama production, the company being mainly known for its television comedy work. Focu ...
'' (TV, 1999), ''
When the Sky Falls
''When the Sky Falls'' is a 2000 film à clef directed by John Mackenzie and starring Joan Allen. The narrative centres on reporter Veronica Guerin, who wrote about drug-related crime for the '' Sunday Independent'', and her eventual murder.
Ca ...
'' (2000) and ''
Stranded'' (2002). Cunningham came to international prominence with his role as Captain Ryan in the critically acclaimed, independent horror film, ''
Dog Soldiers
The Dog Soldiers or Dog Men (Cheyenne: ''Hotamétaneo'o'') are historically one of six Cheyenne military societies. Beginning in the late 1830s, this society evolved into a separate, militaristic band that played a dominant role in Cheyenne re ...
'' (2002).
Cunningham starred in well-received films such as ''
The Wind That Shakes the Barley'' (2006) which won the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
; ''
Hunger
In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the ...
''; ''
The Escapist'' (both 2008); ''
The Guard The Guard may refer to:
* ''The Guard'' (TV series), a Canadian drama series portraying about the Canadian Coast Guard
* ''The Guard'' (1990 film), a 1990 Soviet film about a soldier who kills his entire unit
* ''The Guard'' (2001 film), a 2001 ...
''; and ''
Black Butterflies'' (both 2011). He also had roles in many high budget British and American films including ''
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse'' (2005), ''
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008), ''
Harry Brown'' (2009), ''
Clash of the Titans'', ''
Centurion
A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...
'' (both 2010). On television, he appeared as President ''Richard Tate'' in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Cunningham was producer
'' (1996), but was vetoed by Fox executives.
In 2012, Cunningham joined the main cast for the
. He was also cast in season 5 of the
...