Sam Neill, Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders actor, dies aged 78

Summary

The actor Sam Neill, known for his roles in the Jurassic Park films, has died aged 78
His family says "the loss was sudden and unexpected", adding he died in Sydney "surrounded by family, and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life"
In 2023, Neill said he had been diagnosed with cancer, but in April this year revealed he was cancer free
Neill was born in Northern Ireland and moved to New Zealand when he was seven - he later played a Belfast police chief in Peaky Blinders
He played Dr Alan Grant in the first Jurassic Park in 1993, and in later films in the franchise. He was also well known for The Piano, The Hunt For Red October and Event Horizon - here's a gallery of his best-known roles
Neill could do the whole gamut, writes Colin Paterson - that's why there'll be a real outpouring today

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'Big surprise' - Sam Neill talks about Jurassic Park success at 1993 premiere

Live Reporting

Edited by Andrew Humphrey

Hero or villain, Sam Neill was always compellingpublished at 10:00 BST
Ian Youngs
Culture reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Sam Neill was a rare actor who enjoyed success in Hollywood blockbusters and acclaimed arthouse movies alike.
One of the most versatile stars in the film industry, he always commanded attention on screen - whether he was playing a steely but likeable hero or a chillingly menacing villain.
Jurassic Park was his biggest box office hit and made him an international star. His other Hollywood roles included The Hunt For Red October as Sir Sean Connery's second in command, Dead Calm as Nicole Kidman's husband, and Thor: Ragnarok as Thor's father Odin.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg of a career that included dozens of films and TV shows in the US, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Other highlights included 1981's cult horror Possession; 1988's A Cry in the Dark alongside Meryl Streep, which earned him the Australian Film Institute award for best lead actor; 1993 period drama The Piano, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival; and Taika Waititi’s 2016 breakout hit Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Neill's 'big surprise' at success of Jurassic Park at 1993 premierepublished at 09:44 BST
Speaking to the BBC at the 1993 premiere of Jurassic Park, Sam Neill said it was a "big surprise" how well the film had already been received.
The film went on to gross more than $970m (£720m), becoming the highest grossing film of all time - until it was dethroned by Titanic in 1997.

Neill 'gave us all strength', says Jurassic World directorpublished at 09:35 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Colin Trevorrow directed Neill in 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion - the sixth film in the Jurassic Park franchise
Colin Trevorrow, who directed Sam Neill in 2022's Jurassic World Dominion, has described the actor as "deeply soulful and beautiful man".
Writing on X, Trevorrow says Neill "was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength".
"I’ll remember him for his tranquillity, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It’s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend. Forever grateful."
Illness made Neill 'take stock of things'published at 09:23 BST
Image source, Reuters
In March 2022 Sam Neill was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma - a type of blood cancer. At 75-years-old and unable to work, he turned to writing. He told the BBC it gave him a reason to get through the day.
When doctors told him about his illness, he said it made him "take stock of things".
A year later, what he anticipated would be a collection of stories became a book titled 'Did I Ever Tell you This? It exploried his life-long career and his diagnosis - but he stressed that it wasn't a "cancer book."
"The last thing I want is for people to obsess about the cancer thing," says Neill, "because I'm not really interested in cancer.
"I'm not really interested in anything other than living."
In April of this year Neill announced that he was cancer free.

Generous, funny and nervous about his stutter - when I interviewed Sam Neillpublished at 09:14 BST
Lucy Hockings
Chief presenter, BBC News
I met Sam Neill at the London premiere of Hunt for the Wilderpeople in 2016.
New Zealanders love this movie, it's funny and warm - "a small film with a big heart", Sam later told me.
We spoke about home and I asked him if he'd come into the studio for an interview. He hesitated. Live television makes me nervous, he told me, because of my stutter.
He came anyway and was generous, funny and without affectation. He told me about the movie, his admiration for the director of Wilderpeople, Taika Waititi, and how he'd just spent time on the set of his new movie, the Marvel blockbuster, Thor, Ragnarok.
What struck me was how little interest he seemed to have in celebrity. He said he wasn't a Hollywood star, just a New Zealand actor who worked there from time to time.
His favourite thing was escaping to his Two Paddocks vineyard in Central Otago, where the phone stopped working at the gate.
And when the interview finished and we were off air, he told me he always watched BBC News in hotel rooms around the world and loved hearing my accent - it reminds me of home, he said.
'A national treasure' - fellow Kiwi Karl Urban pays tribute to Sam Neillpublished at 09:03 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Fellow New-Zealand actor Karl Urban offered his "heartfelt condolences" to Sam Neill's family following the actor's death, aged 78.
"Sam was truly brilliant. An inspiration for many who followed in his trailblazing footsteps," wrote Urban, who is best known for Lord of the Rings and The Boys.
"A beautiful man. A national treasure who gave so much to New Zealand and the to world. God speed Sam."

Sam Neill's best-known rolespublished at 08:30 BST
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Neill (right) played Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993) and a series of sequels
Image source, Jan Chapman Prods/Ciby 2000/Miramax/Kobal/Shutterstock
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He appeared in Jane Campion's Oscar-winning 1993 drama The Piano, also in 1993
Image source, Moviestore/Shutterstock
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Neill's early roles included the adult antichrist Damien in The Omen III in 1981
Image source, Everett/Shutterstock
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Neill appeared opposite Sir Sean Connery in 1990 submarine thriller The Hunt For Red October
Image source, Macpherson/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
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He went into space in 1997's sci-fi thriller Event Horizon
Image source, Getty Images
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He played the title role in 1998's TV series Merlin and its 2006 follow-up
Image source, BBC/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky
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More recently, Neill appeared as the ruthless Major Chester Campbell in BBC TV's Peaky Blinders
'A Kiwi icon' - Celebrities and leaders from Australia and New Zealand react to Neill's deathpublished at 08:19 BST
Simon Atkinson
Australia reporter
Image source, PA Media
Australian actor David Wenham, who was directed by Neill in The Brush Off says: "Aside from being an international all-round legend. Sam was the kindest, cheekiest, most generous and supportive friend going around."
Australian author and former Wallabies rugby union player Peter FitzSimons called Neill "a wonderful bloke with an impish sense of humour".
"Sam never actually became an Australian citizen, but in my view he'd be a great candidate for a State funeral," FitzSimons adds.
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark described Neill as a "legendary NZ actor who brought great pride to our country", adding that he was also a "champion of NZ’s arts, culture, unique environment, & wines".
New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters says Neill "was a Kiwi icon through his work in both local and Hollywood films that entertained people around the world over decades".

Neill one of New Zealand's greats, PM sayspublished at 08:00 BST
Helen Livingstone
Reporting from Sydney
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has also paid tribute to Neill, describing him as "one of the greats".
"He started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today – one of our greatest cultural exports," Luxon wrote on X.
Neill - who moved to New Zealand from Northern Ireland as a child - lived on a farm and winery in the Central Otago region.
"His work will be watched and loved long after all of us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends tonight. Rest in Peace," Luxon continued.
Neill had a 'special place in Australian hearts', Albanese sayspublished at 07:45 BST
Helen Livingstone
Reporting from Sydney
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has mourned Sam Neill, writing on X that he "starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts".
The New Zealand actor was regarded as an honorary Australian by many due to his connections to the country and he died in a hospital in Sydney surrounded by family.
"Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour and conviction that gave strength to his every performance," Albanese added. "He will be much mourned and long remembered. May he rest in peace."
One of Neill's breakthrough roles was in the 1979 Australian film My Brilliant Career and he took on many other Australian roles including that of Michael Chamberlain - whose daughter was killed in an infamous dingo attack in 1980 - in the film A Cry In The Dark (released as Evil Angels in Australia and New Zealand) with Meryl Streep.
Just two weeks ago he was nominated for a Silver Logie at Australia's prestigious television awards, for his role in the drama series The Twelve.
Image source, Getty Images

The year that sums up Sam Neill's versatile talentspublished at 07:38 BST
Colin Paterson
Entertainment Correspondent, BBC News
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Sam Neill played Dr Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park films
If we look at one year, it kind of sums up Sam Neill.
In 1993, he starred as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, this enormous blockbuster. I showed it to my own boys for the first time last month, and it really still stands up as a film and truly terrified them.
The other film he made in 1993 was The Piano, directed by Jane Campion. It could not have been a more different film. It won the Palme d'or, Holly Hunter played a mute woman, and it was set in New Zealand. Sam Neill's role utterly had to change in the last act of the film because he's the devoted husband at the start, then he just rips into this nightmarish character.
One of his breakthrough roles was filmed in Britain right at the start of the 1980s - I think people forget he was Damien in the third Omen film.
That's how how versatile this guy was. He could do the whole gamut, and that's why there'll be a real outpouring today.
New-Zealander Neill's Northern Irish rootspublished at 07:30 BST
Image source, Getty Images
While Sam Neill is known as one of New-Zealand's best known actors, his roots lie in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Neill's New-Zealander father was stationed in Omagh as an officer with the Irish Guards when Neill was born in 1947.
"I was born in Omagh, we lived in Armagh and my favourite place here was Tyrella beach, I sort of think that's where I grew up," Neill told the BBC in 2012.
He lived in Northern Ireland until he was seven, when he and his family moved to New Zealand - however Neill returned to his roots when cast as a Belfast police chief in BBC's Peaky Blinders in 2013.
At the time, Neill said his Northern Ireland accent had been "well beaten out" of him by classmates in New-Zealand, and that he had to get help from friends and fellow actors James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson to re-learn it for the role.

Neill's death follows diagnosis and recovery from cancerpublished at 07:12 BST
Image source, Getty Images
In March 2023, Sam Neill revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer, describing it as "a ferocious type of aggressive" non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
However, in April of this year, he announced to the media that he was cancer free after undergoing CAR-T cell (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell) therapy.
"We’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing," Neill told Australian outlet 7 News.
In the statement from the actor's family, they confirm that Neill "remained cancer free", describing his death as "sudden and unexpected".
Death was 'sudden and unexpected', says familypublished at 06:59 BST
A statement from Neill's family says: "It is with immense sadness that the whānau [extended family] 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.
"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."