- Liam Neeson, Schindler’s List, 1993. Steven Spielberg spent ten years growing up before making the Holocaust film and not just because he couldn’t find his Oskar Schindler, the Nazi businessman who saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews. The list included Warren Beatty, Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Harrison Ford, Swiss Bruno Ganz, Mel Gibson, Swedish Stellan Skarsgård and his 2011 Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis – and Thompson as the complete outsider. After four previous nominations, this is film that finally won Spielberg his first Oscar on March 21, 1994.Chicago critic Roger Ebert praised the director’s unique ability of adding artistry to popularity in his serious films – “to say what he wants to say in a way that millions of people want to hear.”
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 1