Sam Neill dies suddenly aged 78

Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor whose portrayal of palaeontologist Alan Grant in Jurassic Park made him one of cinema’s most recognisable stars, has died in Sydney aged 78.

His family announced that Neill died on Monday, July 13, surrounded by relatives. The death was described as sudden and unexpected, although the actor remained free of the blood cancer for which he had undergone treatment.

The family said Neill died with the dignity that had defined his life and thanked the staff of St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Sydney for their care. They requested privacy and said further details would be released later. No cause of death was immediately disclosed.

Neill had announced in April that tests showed no cancer in his body after treatment through an Australian clinical trial. He had been diagnosed in 2022 with stage-three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, after developing swollen glands while promoting Jurassic World Dominion.

Initial chemotherapy stopped working after several months, prompting doctors to pursue an experimental treatment. Neill later said the therapy had cleared the disease and expressed hope that advances in cancer research would help other patients gain access to similar options.

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Omagh, Northern Ireland, on September 14, 1947, he moved with his family to Christchurch when he was seven. He adopted the name Sam while at school and began acting in stage productions before working as a director, editor and scriptwriter for the New Zealand National Film Unit.

His breakthrough came with the 1977 political drama Sleeping Dogs, widely regarded as a landmark in New Zealand filmmaking. International attention followed through his performance opposite Judy Davis in My Brilliant Career, before leading roles in Omen III: The Final Conflict and Andrzej Żuławski’s psychological horror film Possession.

Neill demonstrated a range that allowed him to move between intimate dramas, thrillers, period pieces and large-scale studio productions. His credits included A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, Sirens, Event Horizon, The Dish and Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park transformed his career in 1993. As Dr Alan Grant, Neill gave the dinosaur spectacle an understated emotional centre, portraying a scientist whose scepticism and unease gradually gave way to protectiveness towards two endangered children.

The film became a global commercial and cultural phenomenon. Neill returned as Grant in Jurassic Park III in 2001 and reunited with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum for Jurassic World Dominion in 2022.

His television career was equally varied. He played the ruthless Chief Inspector Chester Campbell in the first two series of Peaky Blinders and appeared in productions including Reilly, Ace of Spies, Merlin, The Tudors, Alcatraz, And Then There Were None, The Twelve and Apples Never Fall.

Neill accumulated more than 150 screen roles during a career spanning over five decades. His performances brought Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, as well as acting honours in Australia and New Zealand. He received the Longford Lyell Award for his contribution to Australian screen culture and was named a New Zealand Screen Legend in 2025.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 and later became a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to acting. Neill had initially resisted the title, saying it felt too grand, before accepting the redesignation in 2022.

Away from film sets, he established the Two Paddocks vineyard in Central Otago, producing pinot noir and maintaining a farm populated by animals often named after friends and fellow actors. His humorous social-media posts from the property revealed a self-deprecating personality far removed from many of his stern or authoritative screen characters.