Sam Neill, the star of Jurassic Park, died from pneumonia, his agent has said
The New Zealand actor, who was best known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in the dinosaur franchise, died in Sydney, Australia, on Monday. He was 78
His agent Philip Grenz said he was confirming the cause of death after speaking with Neill’s family, following news reports that he said contained “inaccuracies and outright falsehoods.”
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“Sam passed away from pneumonia,” Grenz said. “Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy. As Sam was an intensely private man who loathed a fuss, his family will honor him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date.”
Neill’s family had said in an earlier statement that the loss was “sudden and unexpected,” but “blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free.”
In 2023, Neill announced he had “a ferocious type of aggressive” non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He said this April that he was cancer-free after undergoing treatment
Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at age 7. He was born Nigel Neill, but adopted the name Sam because there were too many Nigels at his school. Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren
Neill’s Jurassic Park costars, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, led the tributes to the veteran actor in the wake of his death
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Dern described him as “my beloved lifetime friend,” adding: “He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit. He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.”
Goldblum shared a photo from Jurassic Park of himself with Dern and Neill, writing on Instagram, “The next great adventure begins. Love, always and forever.”
Director Steven Spielberg said he “adored” working with Neill and was “saddened” by the news of his death. “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family, and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world,” he told Variety
Bryce Dallas Howard, who starred alongside Neill in 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion, called him “funny, warm, wickedly self-deprecating, endlessly kind.” She added, “He lit up every room he walked into and made the experience of being human feel dazzling.”
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Dallas Howard also shared a video of Neill singing the Beatles’ “Blackbird” at a piano with Dern and Goldblum
Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards, the two child stars from the film, also paid tribute
In a video posted to Instagram, Mazzello fought back tears while speaking about Neill’s “shocking” death, calling him “the best of us.”
Mazzello recalled that Neill had left a supportive comment on one of his Instagram posts in March, writing, “All the best, Joey.”
“I didn’t even realize he was following me,” Mazzello said. “I didn’t know that he even thought about me anymore. But he was rooting for me. He was still rooting for me 33 years later. That was so special to me to know that.”
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Richards called him a “mentor, protector, and above all, friend.”
How ‘Jurassic Park’ made Sam Neill a star
Neill’s most enduring role will likely be that of gruff paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park franchise
Appearing alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough in the original 1993 blockbuster, Neill’s character is asked to travel to an island near Costa Rica where herds of cloned dinosaurs roam
Billed as “an adventure 65 million years in the making,” the 1993 hit — based on Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel — was a box-office smash and pop-culture phenomenon, blending pioneering computer-generated imagery with life-size animatronics, winning three Oscars in 1994 and spawning a series of sequels of varying success and critical acclaim
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Neill did not reprise his role in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but returned for the third movie in 2001 and Jurassic World: Dominion in 2022
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2013 about the franchise’s legacy, Neill said, “I get stopped for different reasons on the street, but Jurassic Parkwould be the most universal of them. If I go to the Philippines or Rwanda or something, people just know me all around the world. And they’ll start roaring like dinosaurs.”
He told Forbes in 2022 that he “never imagined” the blockbuster would become so iconic. “People can quote the lines,” he said. “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.”
The actor who turned his back on the Hollywood lifestyle
Despite his Hollywood success, Neill largely shunned the celebrity lifestyle, preferring life on his farm and vineyard in New Zealand
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On social media, he would often share photos of his farm animals, whom he named after his costars, including Laura Dern, Helena Bonham Carter and Kylie Minogue. He posted frequently during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, saying he wanted to keep his followers entertained because “the world is so miserable.”
“I just do all sorts of silly stuff that entertains me,” he told Australia’s ABC News. “And if someone else who is also isolated and fearful and anxious gets some kind of enjoyment out of it, then it’s worth doing.”
Neill’s son Tim said he was “surprised” that his “reserved and private” father had embraced social media
Speaking in 2022, the actor said he “never liked living” in Los Angeles and had “zero interest” in show business, adding, “My true home is my farm in New Zealand. That’s where I am at my utmost peace, where I produce wine.”
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“I’m not afraid to die,” Neill told the Guardian in 2023, “but it would annoy me. Because I’d really like another decade or two, you know?”
“We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big. But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less.”
A career that stretched far beyond ‘Jurassic Park’
Neill also starred as Capt. Vasili Borodin in the spy thriller The Hunt for Red October, opposite Sean Connery, and in the TV show Peaky Blinders as the corrupt Maj. Chester Campbell
He featured in the historical drama The Piano alongside Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel, playing Alisdair Stewart, a frontiersman who enters an arranged marriage with a fiercely independent, nonverbal woman. The movie won three Oscars in 1994
His other movies included 2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, in which he played the curmudgeon Hector, and 1989’s Dead Calm, in which he starred opposite Nicole Kidman. He also appeared in Omen III: The Final Conflict, playing Damien the Antichrist, and as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in TheTudors
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Neill auditioned for the role of James Bond in the 1987 movie The Living Daylights,but said he “felt so awkward” and was “so relieved” not to be offered the role. “You really don’t want to be the Bond that no one likes,” he said. “That’s a fate worse than death.”
‘One of the greats’
Many of Neill’s colleagues and friends paid tribute to the actor. Nicole Kidman, who starred alongside Neill in Dead Calm, called him “charming, kind, funny and intelligent.” In a statement shared with People, she added: “Sam was one of the greats … a joy to be around.”
Cillian Murphy, Neill’s Peaky Blinderscostar for Seasons 1 and 2, said in a statement to Deadline, “Like everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors.”
Toni Collette, who worked with Neill on A Long Way Down and Dirty Deeds, wrote on social media, “I love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much. Continue in peace wherever you are.”
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Richard E. Grant said his Palm Beachcostar was “an officer and a gentleman in the truest sense,” while Kylie Minogue wrote, “Vale [goodbye] Sam.”
Jurassic World DominiondirectorColin Trevorrow described Neill as a “deeply soulful and beautiful man” whose “strength gave us all strength.” “It’s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend,” he added. “Forever grateful.”
The Boys star Karl Urban said Neill was “truly brilliant,” while The Traitors host Alan Cumming called him “a glorious, beautiful man.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned Neill as “one of the greats,” saying that he “helped make our film industry into what it is today.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the actor “will be much mourned and long remembered,” adding: “Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humor and conviction that gave strength to his every performance.”
