Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor who played paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park films, has died at 78.
Neill died Monday, July 13, in Sydney, his family announced through his official Instagram account. He was surrounded by relatives at the time of his death.
His family described the loss as “sudden and unexpected” and said Neill remained cancer-free after treatment for stage-three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. No cause of death has been announced.
His Family Said He Remained Cancer-Free
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The family statement said Neill “passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life” and thanked the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for caring for him. The family requested privacy and said further details would be released later.
Neill revealed in his 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer. His original chemotherapy eventually stopped working, and he later entered an Australian clinical trial involving CAR T-cell therapy.
In April, Neill announced that a scan found no cancer in his body. Speaking to Australian broadcaster 7NEWS, he called the result “extraordinary” and said he hoped the treatment would become more widely available to patients in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere.
Dr. Alan Grant Made Neill an International Star
Neill was born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Omagh, Northern Ireland, in 1947 and moved with his family to New Zealand as a child. After working in theater and local television, he landed his breakthrough film role in the 1977 New Zealand political drama Sleeping Dogs.
His performance opposite Judy Davis in Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career brought wider international attention. He followed it with roles in Possession, Omen III: The Final Conflict, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm and The Hunt for Red October.
In 1993, Neill appeared in two of the year’s most prominent films. He played Alisdair Stewart in Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning drama The Piano and Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
Neill returned as Grant in Jurassic Park III and reunited with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum for Jurassic World Dominion in 2022. His other genre roles included John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness and the science-fiction horror film Event Horizon.
His Career Extended Far Beyond the Dinosaur Franchise
Neill earned an Emmy nomination for playing the title character in the 1998 miniseries Merlin. His television credits also included The Tudors, Peaky Blinders, The Twelve, Alcatraz and the Peacock drama Apples Never Fall.
He returned to New Zealand cinema for Taika Waititi’s 2016 comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople, playing the reluctant foster uncle of Julian Dennison’s character. He later made cameo appearances in Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Away from acting, Neill operated the Two Paddocks winery in New Zealand’s Central Otago region. His social accounts regularly featured animals from his farm, several of which he named after friends and co-stars, including Laura Dern, Kylie Minogue and Helena Bonham Carter.
New Zealand and Australia Pay Tribute
Sir Sam Neill was 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…
— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) July 13, 2026
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called Neill “one of the greats” and credited him with helping take New Zealand stories to international audiences during more than 50 years on screen.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remembered Neill as “wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic,” adding that he would be “much mourned and long remembered.” Actors Richard E. Grant, Karl Urban and Magda Szubanski were also among the early figures who publicly paid tribute.
Neill received a knighthood in 2022 for his contribution to film. He is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.