Well, this broke my heart this morning. Sam Neill has passed away at the age of 78. While he had battled blood cancer for five years, he announced this past April that he was cancer-free after a clinical trial in Australia. Heartbreaking. In their statement, his family said that his passing was quite sudden too.
Sam Neill has died at the age of 78. Neill was best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park as Alan Grant, the film’s hero. He also had starring roles in The Hunt For Red October and The Piano and appeared in TV shows like The Tudors and Peaky Blinders.
In a statement shared on Instagram on Monday, July 13, the actor’s family said that his death was “sudden and unexpected.”
“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,” the statement began.
“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” the statement continued. “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.”
Neill was born Nigel Neill in Northern Ireland in 1947. His family moved to New Zealand, where his father was from, when he was 7 years old. “I’ve often thought that was the genesis of me becoming an actor,” he told The Irish Times in 2022 about adapting to a new country. “I think I had to learn how to act and sound like a New Zealander to avoid getting bullied at school.”
I genuinely had no idea he was born in Northern Ireland – I thought he was a lifelong New Zealander. Everything I’ve ever heard about him is that he was a lovely guy, beloved by colleagues and friends. Some of my favorite Sam Neill performances: The Piano, Jurassic Park and The Hunt for Red October, but he was around, doing interesting work for decades. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.
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- Sam Neill during ‘Sweet Country’ photocall, 74th Venice Film Festival, Venice, 06/09/2017,Image: 508104192, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Maria Laura Antonelli/AGF Foto/Avalon
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- 44th Toronto International Film Festival – Blackbird – Premiere Featuring: Sam Neill Where: Toronto, Canada When: 07 Sep 2019 Credit: <> **ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SPAIN & USA**,Image: 537078163, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: USA and SPAIN DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no , Credit line: Snapper/Avalon
Well that sucks. He’s one of my favorite actors. If you’ve never seen Children of the Revolution, go see it.
No! He’s the third of the law of three, which means that Trump is safe! Nooooo!
Lifelong crush since Dead Calm.
Rest in peace ❤️
No, he’s not. I refuse to lump such a wonderful human being in with those piles of excrement.
Aw, this is a shame. He was wonderful in Dead Calm which is one of the most quietly chilling movies of all time.
Loved him when I first saw Jurassic Park. Also enjoyed the stories he shared about his farm. This makes me sad and sending all the thoughts and love to his family.
That was one of my favorite things about him. He bought a former test farm (from a university?) and kept exploring farming. If you can find it, he was on a fun episode of Annabelle langbeins show.
If I remember correctly, he became a star from the miniseries “Reilly, Ace of Spies” about the Russian-born spy adventurer who inspired James Bond.
And the lead in John Carpenter’s Lovecraftian horror “In the Mouth of Madness” as well as other horror films. Madness was a movie that broke my heart for his character.
And Norman Lindsay in “Sirens” with Hugh Grant.
He’s entered my life in such a variety of roles.
I was just talking to my son last night about Neil in Event Horizon, one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. He just seemed like such a genial guy. 78 is too young!
Ooh, I remember that miniseries, it was superb and Sam Neill was outstanding. Wonderful theme music by Shostakovich There are actors I hate so much I just can’t watch them on screen, and when I see their name in the cast, I give the film a miss. Then there are actors whose performance I know will elevate a movie. Sam Neill was one of them. RIP.
This is so very sad. Take a look at his Instagram and see what a truly wonderful man he was. And the skits he wrote and performed during lockdown are comedy genius. He also had a decades long friendship with Bryan Brown; they were so funny together and loved each other. What a loss.
Incredibly sad news, made me tear up.
My first celebrity crush. 💔
Hunt of the Wilderpeople is wonderful. He was such a lovely man. This made me genuinely sad this morning.
Loved him and loved that film
It’s wonderful isn’t it? I’m going to watch it again. May he rest in peace, good man.
One of my favorite movies too. Great idea @JoanCallamezzo (love that name), I’m going to rewatch it tonight. I loved watching Sam in the recent 10 year anniversary events for Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He had the most skux. ❤️❤️🩹
He was a great actor and always seemed like a fun person.
One of my friends had the pleasure of meeting him as she works in the wine industry. She said he was a lovely down-to-earth person and spoke more about his animals than his vineyard.
Cancer treatment is so tough that even when you are in remission or cancer free, it takes a heavy toil that puts a strain on other parts of the body. Heartbreaking for his family.
He always had a twinkle in his eyes that said he was up for some mischief.
This is the rub. I had Car-T (for a different, chronic cancer) 9 months ago. My immune system is still not recovered, not by a LONG shot. When I get even the slightest cold, I head straight to the cancer center to be tested and infused (usually with IVIG which bolsters the immune system) because things progress fast when your ‘normal’ t-cells haven’t bounced back. I had a grad school friend die a year post car-t from this kind of neutropenia. The thing about car-t is that it CAN knock out cancer for a good long while in some people, and its being tested for MS, AIDS, and a ton of other things, but it IS NOT YET A CURE and it leaves you crazy vulnerable for longer than you’d expect. My heart breaks for his family to have this lose after all her endured with his cancer.
He was one of those incredible actors that seemed familiar and almost like a friend. I think I’ll watch Hunt for Red October today. I hope that he achieved all that he wanted, and that he “got to see Montana.”
That is a line that my mother and I always repeated back to each other. I enjoyed him in that role so much.
And that he got an RV and the ability to travel wherever he wanted, even state-to-state, without “papers”
Lifelong crush since Dead Calm.
Rest in peace ❤️
It’s sad when a beloved artist dies, but isn’t it nice when the public can share nice memories of encounters with the person?
Sounds like he was a lovely man.
Oh look, someone who will be remembered with great love for all the happiness he brought to the world. Imagine that.
In all seriousness I never heard even a negative whisper about him. One of the good ones. I still remember his post when his twin granddaughters were born. Pure charm. He will be deeply missed.
This also broke my heart. He was wonderful and so versatile. But am I crazy…I could absolutely swear that he passed away years ago. . I must have him confused with another actor, of course but..so strange.
I was so sad to see this – one of my favorite actors.
Stop taking the wrong 78 year olds. Have been a fan of his work since Jurassic Park.
He narrated a wonderful nature series about New Zealand, I would recommend it to anyone needing a comfort watch.
It’s also comforting that even though his passing was unexpected, his family were able to be there with him at the end.
Waking up and seeing this notice this morning is so sad. I thought, he beat major cancer, he will live a long time. He lived a life well lived and made the world better around him.
A fantastic actor. He will be missed.
May he rest in peace and power.
I’ve admired Neill’s work since I first saw him in My Brilliant Career — a long time ago. His Two Paddocks posts always seemed engaging and joyful. I often sought them out as reminders that building a balanced, joyful life is well-worth celebrating. He’s left a wonderful legacy.
The greatest pillow fight ever put on film!
Oh what a loss. Such huge charisma on screen, so much dignity and heart. I’m glad for all these recommendations from you guys, many of them I have not seen, so I get to have a nice film festival now.
I remember seeing him when I was so young in My Brilliant Career by Gillian Armstrong with Judy Davis.. My heart goes out to his family, what an huge loss.
What horrible news to wake up to. For some reason he followed me on twitter for years and I would joke to my husband about “my good friend, Sam Neill”. I loved the videos he would make with chickens and other animals, they were so charming. I’m sad now, I’ve lost my good friend.
He was one of the best accounts on Twitter. He followed me too and we had quite a few lovely conversations about wine
Oh how lovely:)
Oh rats!!! Why didn’t I get on twitter.
Brilliant actor, but he’ll always be Dr. Grant to me.
RIP
Red Snapper, not necessarily. In our case the rule of 3 only applies to our worst political criminals. Sam Neill was a wonderful actor. I’m sorry he’s gone.
This is so sad and such a loss — not only was he a wonderful actor, he seemed like one of the most genuinely lovely humans. Condolences to his family and friends.
This one hurts. I know he was 78 and lived a long life, but this one still hurts.
I really thought I would see Sam Neill act until he was like 100 years old. He was excellent. I liked and appreciated him in everything. Was always happy to see him on screen, I knew he would make whatever I was watching better. When I cross over to the Other Side, I look forward to seeing the movies he’s made, along with Rob Reiner’s.
I first remembered him from the Kane and Abel mini series. I was surprised to learn later that he was born & reared in Norn Iron, as that’s an incredibly strong accent to lose. He had a very interesting life! 💓
Getting the BBC breaking news alert this morning broke me.
In addition to being a wonderful, very curious and funny person, and a brilliantly versatile actor, he had such a lovely, melodious voice.
Dr Alan Grant will forever be in my heart, courtesy of Sam Neill.
Oh, no. I glance at the title of all the articles before I settle down to read them, and I saw the name Sam Neill, and I gasped and said no, no. But yes, that lovely gentleman that I have been in love with most of my life is gone. What a lovely gentleman. I discovered him first when I watched him on PBS in Reilly, Ace of Spies. Then I fell in love again when I saw him in My Brilliant Career with Judy Davis. Lovely music and a great movie. I keep going back to that movie. If you haven’t watched it, why not see Sam out by watching it to say goodbye. You haven’t lived if you haven’t seen Sam Neill riding down the street on a horse in a confrontation in Peaky Binders. I still think the cancer got him by wearing him out. The animals on his farm were named after famous actors and actresses. I think he had a cow named Meryl Streep. Just a man with so much dignity, humor; so handsome. A rare soul. I’m sad. My best to all fighting cancer. Bon courage.
Omen and his stint on Peaky Blinders made me realise how versatile an actor he was.
I remember being so shocked as a teenager watching the first season of Peaky Blinders because he was so terrifying and in my eyes it couldn’t be the same actor as in Jurassic Park.
This is genuinely so sad.
This is awful news. He was so good at his craft. If you have never seen Hunt for The Wilderpeople, you should check it out. He is fabulous in it. It will make you happy. As his performances often did.
RIP.
I had the most passionate crush on him in My Brilliant Career. He was gentle and very sexy. If you haven’t seen the movie you should. His chemistry with Judy Davis was electric. A great movie and they were both great in it. A truly gifted actor and a real “mensch” of a human being.
yes
My favorite roles of his: Event:Horizon & Peaky Blinders
This is sad news indeed. One of my favorites, first as an actor and later as an awesome human being. I’m glad he had a good life in NZ; he loved his farm and his animals, and I’ll always treasure the photos he shared. Will miss his smile!