Sam Neill, the actor best known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the “Jurassic Park” series, has died. He was 78 years old.
Neil’s family announced his “sudden and unexpected” death on his Instagram account on Monday, July 13th.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Sam Neill passed away on Monday 13th July in Sydney, Australia,” the post said, referring to the Māori word for extended family. “Sam passed away surrounded by his family and with the dignity that characterized his life.”
Neil announced in April that he was cancer-free after undergoing a clinical trial in Australia. He was diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer, in 2022.
Although Neil’s death was sudden, his family wrote that they were “blessed by the fact that Sam survived cancer” and expressed their “deep gratitude” to the hospital staff for their “incredible care”.
“Details will be shared later,” the Instagram post reads. “But for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they work through this immeasurable loss.”
Sam Neill’s breakthrough role was as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.
Born Nigel John Dermot Neill on September 14, 1947 in the town of Omagh, Northern Ireland, he moved to New Zealand at the age of seven after his father retired from the army and wanted to return home.
That’s why, at age 11, he changed his name to Sam, as he wrote in his 2023 memoir Did I Ever Tell You This? – “Trouble ensues when you land at an elementary school with Plum’s voice and Nigel’s name.”
Neil shot to superstardom as the gruff but undeniably lovable paleontologist Dr. Grant in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, a role he reprized in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).
He also appeared in films such as The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, Event Horizon, The Horse Whisperer, and The Bicentennial Man.
Neil reunited with his original Jurassic Park co-stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum in a nostalgic Xfinity commercial that aired during the first Super Bowl in 2026. Neil took a humorous selfie with a Tyrannosaurus rex in the ad.
In television, Neil won wide acclaim for projects such as Riley, Merlin and The Tudors, as well as the villainous two-season series of Peaky Blinders (2013-14), where he played ruthless detective Chester Campbell. In 2024, Neil starred as former tennis coach Stan Delaney in Peacock’s limited series mystery drama Apples Never Fall.
He received Golden Globe nominations for Riley: Ace of Spies, Merlin (also nominated for an Emmy), and One Against the Wind.
Neil is a respected vocal artist who guest-starred on Season 4 of Rick and Morty, where he played the voice of an alien trying to take over Earth using a dating app.
Sam Neill says he’s not afraid of dying after going into remission after being diagnosed with cancer
Neil revealed this on “Did I Ever Tell You This?” He was battling stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. At the time, Neil said he had been in remission for a year and was keeping busy with film and TV projects and vineyards in New Zealand.
Neil revealed in a 2023 short documentary on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Australian Story program that he had been receiving IV medication to which his tumor was responding effectively. He said the process would continue indefinitely.
It’s “like going 10 rounds with a boxer, but it’s what keeps me alive, and being alive is much preferable to the alternative,” Neal said.
He also said, “I’m never afraid of dying. I’ve never been worried about it in the first place. But there are still things I want to do, so it can be frustrating.”
Neil added: “It’s very frustrating and it almost kills me. But I’m not afraid of it.”
Neil has two sons and two daughters.
Contributor: Lucy Craymer, Reuters
