Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for playing palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, has died in Sydney, Australia. He was 78.
His family announced the death on Monday in a statement on his Instagram page, saying he was “surrounded by family” and “passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life.” They described the loss as “sudden and unexpected,” but noted he remained cancer-free after Neill announced in April he had beaten a rare, aggressive form of blood cancer he’d battled since 2023.
Born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand from age seven, Neill built a career spanning more than 150 screen credits, including “The Hunt for Red October,” “The Piano,” “Event Horizon,” NBC’s “Merlin,” and more recently “Peaky Blinders.” He reprised his “Jurassic Park” role across three sequels.
Neill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 and knighted by New Zealand in 2022. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Neill had “earned a special place in Australian hearts.”
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