As one booming category of smart polymeric materials, stimuli-responsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are very promising owing to the large and reversible shape deformations response to external stimuli (heat, light, electric or magnetic field, etc.). Due to the changes of microscopic orders or molecular structures of uniaxial-aligned mesogens, the whole LCE materials could execute very large and reversible macroscopic actuation during the LC-to-isotropic phase transition process. Among them, near-infrared light (NIR-light) responsive LCEs have attracted scientific attention because NIR-light has a strong penetration and low toxicity to biological tissues. The NIR-induced deformation mechanisms of LCEs can be divided into two main categories. One is relying on the trans-cis variations of azobenzene chromophores triggered by NIR-light which can be converted into low-wavelength lights by doping inorganic or organic up-conversion materials. The other type of light-responsive LCEs takes advantage of the photo-thermal effect of thermal conductive fillers to transform light into heat which further induces the LC-to-isotropic phase transition and thus make the LCE materials shrink/expand. These characteristics endow NIR-light responsive LCE materials with potential applications as mechanical actuators, artificial organs, smart surfaces, microrobots, etc. This article reviewes the developments of NIR-light responsive LCEs, and also introduces the main deformation mechanisms and applications of NIR-light responsive LCEs in detail. Besides, the article further provides a view of prospective development in future for NIR-light responsive LCEs and actuators.