Sam Neill, the acclaimed New Zealand actor whose five-decade career ranged from intimate dramas to major Hollywood productions, has died at 78, his family announced Monday.
Neill died in Sydney surrounded by his family, according to a statement shared through his official social media account. No cause of death was immediately announced.
(Photo: Hanna Lassen/Getty Images for The Star)
Best known internationally for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park,” Neill returned to the role in “Jurassic Park III” and “Jurassic World Dominion.”
His wide-ranging film career also included performances in “My Brilliant Career,” “Possession,” “Dead Calm,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “The Piano,” “Event Horizon” and “A Cry in the Dark.” On television, he appeared in productions including “Peaky Blinders” and “The Twelve.”
Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Northern Ireland in 1947, he moved with his family to New Zealand as a child and became one of the country’s most internationally recognized performers.
Neill revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed the previous year with stage-three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer. He later underwent CAR T-cell therapy after chemotherapy stopped working and said in April that scans had found no cancer in his body.
He wrote about his illness, career and family in his 2023 memoir, “Did I Ever Tell You This?”
Away from acting, Neill operated the Two Paddocks winery in New Zealand’s Central Otago region and frequently shared images of farm life and his animals with followers online.
He is survived by his children, grandchildren and extended family.