# Liam Cunningham
**Liam Cunningham** (born 1961) is an Irish actor best known for playing Ser Davos Seaworth, the "Onion Knight", in HBO's epic fantasy series *Game of Thrones* (2012 to 2019, 42 episodes)[1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham). A Dubliner who did not begin acting until his mid-twenties, he built his career in supporting roles across Irish, British, and American film and television, winning Irish Film & Television Awards and a shared BAFTA[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961, Dublin, Ireland[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/bio/) |
| Height | 6 ft 0¾ in (1.85 m)[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/bio/) |
| First career | Electrician; left school at 15 and worked in the trade for about 11 years, including three years in Zimbabwe[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/) |
| Film debut | A police officer in *Into the West* (1992), at age 31[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/) |
| Signature role | Davos Seaworth, *Game of Thrones*, 42 episodes (2012–2019)[1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham) |
| Major awards | IFTA wins for *The Wind That Shakes the Barley* (2006), *Hunger* (2008), and *Game of Thrones* (2018); shared BAFTA for *Pitch Black Heist* (2012)[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html) |
| Recognition | Number 36 on The Irish Times' 2020 list of Ireland's greatest film actors[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html) |
| Family | Married to Colette; three children[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/bio/) |
## Early life and electrician years
Cunningham was born in Dublin in 1961. The RTÉ profile describes him as Rotunda-born and North Wall-raised, while other accounts place his upbringing in East Wall[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/) • [6](https://biographs.org/liam-cunningham). His father worked on the Dublin docks shovelling coal into boats, walking to the waterfront each morning to ask if there was work that day[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/).
He left secondary school at 15 to become an electrician, a trade his father called "a job for life" with the ESB, the Irish state electricity supplier[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/). In the 1980s he spent three years in Zimbabwe, maintaining electrical equipment at a safari park and training Zimbabwean electricians[1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham).
## Move into acting
Boredom with electrical work set in after a few years[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/). His wife spotted an advert on the back page of *The Irish Times* calling for people to audition for an acting school, and Cunningham applied. To prepare, he played his VHS of *Apocalypse Now* on repeat until he had mastered [Marlon Brando](https://www.edgepedia.org/marlon-brando)'s Colonel Kurtz monologue[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/).
He attended acting classes and worked in local theater, including an early stage role in *Studs* at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, London, and a [Royal Shakespeare Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-shakespeare-company) production of *As You Like It* at the Barbican Theatre with [Niamh Cusack](https://www.edgepedia.org/niamh-cusack) in the cast[6](https://biographs.org/liam-cunningham) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/faq/).
His film debut came in 1992, at 31, as a police officer in the Irish magical realist film *Into the West*[5](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/). Roles in *War of the Buttons* (1994) and *A Little Princess* (1995) followed, and his performance as the respectable Mr. Phillotson in the [Thomas Hardy](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-hardy) adaptation *Jude* (1996), opposite [Kate Winslet](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-winslet), Christopher Eccleston, and [David Tennant](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-tennant), brought him into the spotlight[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/).
## Doctor Who, almost
Cunningham came close to a very different kind of role. According to the biographical encyclopedia Prabook, he was producer Philip Segal's first choice to portray the [Eighth Doctor](https://www.edgepedia.org/eighth-doctor) in the 1996 *[Doctor Who](https://www.edgepedia.org/doctor-who-film)* television movie but was vetoed by Fox executives[8](https://prabook.com/web/liam.cunningham/2159880). IMDb's biography instead credits the recommendation to the producer David Puttnam and notes that, had Cunningham been cast, he would have been the first non-British actor to play The Doctor[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/bio/). The accounts agree that he was put forward and did not get the part; they differ on who put his name forward.
## Screen career
Through the late 1990s and 2000s Cunningham accumulated character roles in British and Irish television, including *Falling for a Dancer* (1998), *Shooting the Past* (1999), *RKO 281* (1999), and *Outcasts*, in which he played President Richard Tate for eight episodes in 2011[1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham). His film work included international prominence as Captain Ryan in the horror film *[Dog Soldiers](https://www.edgepedia.org/dog-soldiers-film)* (2002), [Ken Loach](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-loach)'s Irish independence drama *The Wind That Shakes the Barley* (2006), [Steve McQueen](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-mcqueen)'s debut *Hunger* (2008), *The Escapist* (2008), and big-budget productions such as *The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor* and *Clash of the Titans* (2010)[8](https://prabook.com/web/liam.cunningham/2159880) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/).
**Awards.** His supporting work in Irish cinema earned IFTA wins for *The Wind That Shakes the Barley* (2006) and *Hunger* (2008), along with nominations for the London Film Critics' Circle Award and the British Independent Film Award[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/awards/). In 2012 he shared the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film with [Michael Fassbender](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-fassbender) for the crime-drama short *Pitch Black Heist*, in which he also starred[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html).
## Game of Thrones and later work
In 2012 Cunningham joined *Game of Thrones* as [Davos Seaworth](https://www.edgepedia.org/davos-seaworth), a reformed smuggler loyal to [Stannis Baratheon](https://www.edgepedia.org/stannis-baratheon), and stayed through the series' 2019 conclusion[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/) • [1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham). He won the 2018 IFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Drama for the part, after nominations in 2014 through 2017 and 2020[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html). In interviews he described the show's long scenes as unusually demanding, "almost like doing theatre", and explained that his character's missing fingertips were portrayed with a specially sewn glove in which his fingers stayed curled, with some computer-generated shots[10](https://www.gamesradar.com/game-of-thrones-season-two-liam-cunningham-interview/) • [11](https://www.westeros.org/Features/Entry/Interview_with_Liam_Cunningham/). During the show's seventh season he publicly criticized spoiler-seekers who flew drones over the set in Spain, calling them "low-lifers"[12](https://time.com/4712215/game-of-thrones-davos-actor-spoilers/).
Fantasy television remained a thread: he played Ruadan in two episodes of *Merlin* and Captain Zhukov in the *Doctor Who* episode "Cold War" (2013)[1](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham). In the 2020s he starred in the Roman Empire drama *[Domina](https://www.edgepedia.org/domina-tv-series)* (2021), voiced Man-at-Arms in the *Masters of the Universe* animated series (2021–2024), played Captain Eliot in *The Last Voyage of the Demeter* (2023), and took the role of Thomas Wade in Netflix's *3 Body Problem* (2024), which brought him a 2025 IFTA nomination[2](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/). In 2025 he appeared in *The Physician 2* as King Canute and in *Palestine 36* as C Tegart, and appeared as himself in the RTÉ adventure series *Uncharted with Ray Goggins*[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/).
## References
1. [Liam Cunningham, VALÉORINE reference profile](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/liam-cunningham)
2. [Liam Cunningham, IFTA Academy member profile](https://ifta.ie/academy_members/mp/liam_cunningham.html)
3. [Liam Cunningham, IMDb biography](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/bio/)
4. [Liam Cunningham, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/liam-cunningham/)
5. [Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham talks to The Works Presents, RTÉ Culture (2017)](https://www.rte.ie/culture/2017/0321/861359-game-of-thrones-liam-cunningham-speaks-to-the-works-presents/)
6. [Liam Cunningham biography, Biographs.org](https://biographs.org/liam-cunningham)
7. [Liam Cunningham, IMDb FAQ](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/faq/)
8. [Liam Cunningham, Prabook World Biographical Encyclopedia](https://prabook.com/web/liam.cunningham/2159880)
9. [Liam Cunningham, IMDb Awards](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0192377/awards/)
10. [Game of Thrones Season Two: Liam Cunningham Interview, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/game-of-thrones-season-two-liam-cunningham-interview/)
11. [Interview with Liam Cunningham, Westeros.org (2012)](https://www.westeros.org/Features/Entry/Interview_with_Liam_Cunningham/)
12. [Game of Thrones Star Slams Season 7 Spoiler-Seeking Drones, TIME (2017)](https://time.com/4712215/game-of-thrones-davos-actor-spoilers/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Irish actors › Surnames A to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license