Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in the Jurassic Park franchise, Peaky Blinders and a plethora of independent films has died in Australia, it was announced tonight. The multiple Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominee was 78.
“It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” a post on the Neill’s social media feed said late Sunday.
The post added: “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. 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.”
Knighted in 2022 as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, Nigel John Dermot Neill was born in 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland. He and his family moved back to his father’s South Pacific homeland in 1954. Once his acting career had really kicked off with Roger Donaldson’s Sleeping Dogs in 1977, and now going by “Sam,” Neill moved to Australia in the late in the Me Decade to pursue bigger opportunities. In 1979, such a bigger opportunity arrived when Neill achieved a Cannes perch and international recognition for his performance in the widely successful Gillian Armstrong-directed and Judy Davis-led My Brilliant Career.
Today, looking back on Neill’s brilliant and blockbuster strew carrer, Australian PM Anthony Albanese praised Neill for his role “in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts.”
After a long battle with blood cancer, the Did I Ever Tell You This? author revealed earlier this year that he was now free of the disease thanks to Australian clinical trials he participated in.
Never long off the big or small screen over the last 45 years, Neill took on hero and villain roles in the likes of the Nicole Kidman-costarring Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Jane Campion’s Palme d’Or winning The Piano (1993) and as an actor playing Odin in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder, not to mention the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders as the ruthless Major Chester Campbell.
Neill auditioned to be James Bond in the 1980s, but the gig ultimately went to Timothy Dalton.
However, with a role in Legendary’s upcoming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, it is Neill’s role as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the Clinton Era Jurassic Park that defines him for most film fans.
From his initial appearance as Grant in Steven Spielberg‘s 1993 film based on Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, Neill showed up in 2001’s Jurassic Park III and 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion. The actor, along with Jurassic franchise co-star Laura Dern, also added his voice to the 2018 video game Jurassic World Evolution and 2021’s Jurassic World Evolution 2.
Married twice and the founder of NZs Two Paddocks vineyard, Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
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