Jurassic Park star Sam Neill dies in Sydney aged 78, family says he remained cancer free
Sir Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor who became one of the world's most recognisable screen stars as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, has died aged 78. His family confirmed the news in a statement on Monday, 13 July, saying he died suddenly at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Sydney with his family around him.
The statement was posted on social media by his whānau, the Māori word for family, and it made clear nobody saw this coming.
"It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life."
"The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent's Private Hospital for their incredible care."
The family asked for privacy while they "navigate this immeasurable loss", and said more details will be shared later.
Neill beat a rare blood cancer before his death
In March 2023, Neill revealed he'd spent a year quietly undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer. At the time he said the cancer was in remission but that he'd need monthly chemotherapy indefinitely.
Less than three months ago, he announced he was cancer free after taking part in an Australian clinical trial of CAR T cell therapy, a treatment that reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to attack the cancer. He told fans he was "very, very excited", and admitted that when chemotherapy stopped working it had looked like he "was on the way out". His family’s confirmation that he remained cancer free at the end means his death on Monday wasn’t the ending so many had feared.
His 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, dealt frankly with the diagnosis alongside stories from five decades of film sets.
From Sleeping Dogs to Jurassic Park, a career that started in Australia's golden run
Neill's breakout came in Roger Donaldson's 1977 thriller Sleeping Dogs, the film widely credited with kickstarting New Zealand's modern film industry. He then crossed the Tasman and starred opposite Judy Davis as Harry Beecham in 1979's My Brilliant Career, the Australian classic that turned him into an international name.
Hollywood followed. His first big international role came in 1981 as Damien, the adult antichrist, in Omen III: The Final Conflict, and he starred alongside Sean Connery as a Soviet submarine officer in The Hunt for Red October. Then came 1993: palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, one of the highest grossing films ever made, and Jane Campion's The Piano in the same year. He returned as Grant in Jurassic Park III and again in 2022's Jurassic World Dominion.
At home in Australia and Britain the roles kept coming. He starred opposite a young Nicole Kidman in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm, played Michael Chamberlain opposite Meryl Streep in Evil Angels, the film about the Azaria Chamberlain case, and led the cast of The Dish. Television gave him super spy Sidney Reilly in Reilly, Ace of Spies, the wizard Merlin, and Chester Campbell, the menacing policeman who hunted the Shelbys through the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders. He even sent himself up in Thor: Ragnarok, playing an Asgardian actor playing Odin, and turned up as Mr McGregor in Peter Rabbit.
From Wilderpeople to Netflix's Untamed, he worked right to the end
New Zealand fell for him all over again as Uncle Hec in Taika Waititi's 2016 hit Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He was barrister Brett Colby in the Australian courtroom drama The Twelve, the only member of the original cast to return for its second season, then starred in the 2024 adaptation of Liane Moriarty's Apples Never Fall. His most recent major role came just last year, opposite Eric Bana in the Netflix thriller Untamed.
The honours took longer than the work. Neill turned down a knighthood in 2009, calling the title "just far too grand", before accepting redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in June 2022. Off screen he made wine for decades through Two Paddocks, his vineyard operation in Central Otago.
Born Nigel in Northern Ireland, made Sam in a Christchurch playground
He was born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Northern Ireland in 1947, to an English mother and a New Zealand father, and the family moved to Christchurch in 1954. He started calling himself Sam at school because the playground had too many Nigels.
"I encouraged the nickname because I thought I'd be slightly less likely to be victimised during the tender years. Nigel was a little effete for the rigours of a New Zealand playground."
He was born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand, but it was Australia that made him an international star, and Australia where he spent his final days. He's survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
