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Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor who immortalized paleontologist Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and played Holly Hunter's husband in The Piano, passed away this Monday in Sydney at the age of 78 under circumstances described by his family as "sudden and unexpected," as confirmed by Associated Press (AP).
The passing was announced through a statement posted on the actor's social media. "Sam was surrounded by his family and departed with the dignity that characterized his entire life," wrote his loved ones, without specifying the cause of death.
The news was especially shocking because, just two and a half months earlier, on April 29, 2026, Neill had publicly celebrated being cancer-free after several years of treatment. "I just had a CT scan and there is no cancer in my body, that is something extraordinary," he stated at the time. His family confirmed in the statement that he "remained cancer-free" at the time of his passing. The cause of death has not been disclosed.
The actor had been diagnosed in March 2022 with stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He publicly revealed his illness in March 2023 to the newspaper The Guardian while promoting his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?, which he wrote during chemotherapy. When the initial treatment stopped working, he participated in a clinical trial with CAR-T therapy, an advanced immunotherapy. Announcing his recovery, he described the process with a phrase that encapsulated his character: "It’s not a miracle, it’s science at its finest."
Born in 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of seven. His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island, where he laid the foundations for a career that spanned over five decades and included nearly 100 films. He made his acting debut in Sleeping Dogs (1977), the first feature film produced in New Zealand in over a decade, and gained international recognition in 1979 with My Brilliant Career by Gillian Armstrong.
1993 was one of the most important years of his career, when he starred in Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg, and The Piano by Jane Campion, a film that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. In Spielberg's blockbuster, he shared the screen with Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough, and his character, Dr. Alan Grant, returned in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022). He also acted with Nicole Kidman in Dead Calm and with Meryl Streep in Plenty and A Cry in the Dark.
On television, he made a mark as the villain Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders and as Thomas Jefferson in the miniseries Sally Hemings: An American Tragedy. In 2024, he starred in the series Apples Never Fall alongside Annette Bening. He received Emmy nominations for the miniseries Merlin (1998) and as the narrator of Wild New Zealand (2017).
In addition to being an actor, Neill was a noted winemaker. Under the brand Two Paddocks, he produced pinot noir and riesling wines at his winery in Central Otago, on the South Island of New Zealand. He was appointed a Knight of the New Zealand Order of Merit, an honor conferred by Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his significant contribution to cinema.
Just weeks before his passing, the actor had expressed his intention to return to work: “It’s time for me to make another film.” He is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.
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