Actor Sam Neill, known for his roles in the “Jurassic Park” films and “Peaky Blinders,” died on Monday, according to his official social media account. He was 78.
“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,” the statement, which was posted early on Monday, said. “The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”
Early career
Neill, who was born Nigel John Dermot Neill on Sept. 14, 1947, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, didn’t get exposure to acting until he was in college.
As a kid, Neill’s parents were in the army, and his father’s family owned a vineyard. When he was 7, Neill and his family moved to New Zealand. It was while he attended the University of Canterbury that he gained exposure to acting.
In 1971, Neill landed his first acting role in the New Zealand television film “The City of No.” He was cast in several TV film roles before his being cast as the lead in the 1977 New Zealand film, “Sleeping Dogs,” an action thriller film.
Following “Sleeping Dogs,” Neill worked on several TV shows and films in Australia, including the TV show “The Sullivans” and the 1979 films, “The Journalist” and “Just Out of Reach.”
In 1981, he starred in his first international role for “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” in which he played Damien Thorn.
‘Jurassic Park’
Of all the roles he’s had, his portrayal of Dr. Alan Grant in the 1993 film “Jurassic Park” is perhaps his most well-known. The science fiction action Steven Spielberg directed-film, based on Michael Chrichton’s 1990 novel of the same name, followed a team of genetic scientists who have created a wildlife park of de-extinct dinosaurs. Neill’s character was inspired by paleontologist Jack Horner.
In a 2022 interview with Forbes, Neill said, “Alan Grant is like an old comfortable pair of boots.”
“They’ve seen better days, byt they’re really comfortable, and there’s no way you’ll get rid of those,” he said.
Neill also reprised his character in “Jurassic Park III” and “Jurassic World Dominion.”
While looking back at his film career portraying Dr. Alan Grant, the actor said that the franchise “took me completely by surprise.”
“I never thought there would be another one, let alone six in total,” he said. “I also never imagined that that first film would, in particular, would make a place for itself so much in popular culture. People can quote the lines. Alan Grant taking off his dark glasses to see things has become a meme. You just do them at the time, and then 30 years later, it’s still part of people’s lives. It’s baffling, really.”
‘Merlin,’ ‘Peaky Blinders’ and othe roles
Following “Jurassic Park,” Neill starred in a number of films including “Bicentennial Man” alongside Robin Williams, and the 1997 science fiction horror film “Event Horizon.”
He also starred in “Merlin,” playing the mythical wizard, and the historical drama, “The Tudors.”
In an interview with The West Australian in 2008, Neill called the role of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in “The Tudors,” “immensely intriguing.”
“It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling.”
Later in his career, Neill appeared in “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Thor: Love and Thunder.” He also voiced the character, Tommy Brock, in “Peter Rabbit.”
Awards and honors
Throughout his career, Neill received many awards as an actor but the award that was perhaps most meaningful to him was when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1991, which he was able to share with his father, just before he died.
“I got a letter and I took the letter and dad was in his bed on his way out and I said, ‘Dad, they’re giving me an OBE,'” Neill recalled in a 2017 interview with Julia Zemiro of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation iview show, “Home Delivery.” “And he said, ‘I’m very proud of you.'”
In 2022, Neill also earned the title of Sir as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Battle with cancer
While promoting his memoir, “Did I Ever Tell You This?,” in March 2023, Neill told The Guardian that he was being treated for stage 3 blood cancer.
The previous year, he had opened up about his diagnosis, saying he is cancer free, but will continue to receive chemotherapy. While undergoing chemotherapy, he told the outlet that he had experienced “dark moments.”
“Those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends,” he said. “Just pleased to be alive.”
In 2022, Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, “a rare, often but not always, aggressive (fast-growing) form of peripheral T-cell lymphoma,” according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
According to The Guardian, Neill said he first experienced swollen glands during publicity for “Jurassic World Dominion” in March 2022 and was diagnosed with AITL not long after. The actor “received chemotherapy, but when that started to fail, he embarked on a new chemotherapy drug which he will continue to receive monthly for the rest of his life, although he is now cancer-free,” the outlet reported.
In his memoir, according to The Guardian, Neill writes that he is “possibly dying” and that he “may have to speed this up.”
He told the outlet that writing the book gave him “a reason to live.”
“I would go to bed thinking, ‘I’ll write about that tomorrow … that will entertain me,'” he said. “And so it was a lifesaver really, because I couldn’t have gone through that with nothing to do, you know.”
Neill is survived by his children, Elena Neill, who he shared with ex-wife, Noriko Watanabe, and Tim Neill, who he shares with New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow.
The statement on Neill’s social media account thanked the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital, in Sydney’s suburb of Darlinghurst, praising them for “their incredible care.”
“More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss,” the statement said.
