Sam Neill’s Jurassic Park costars, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, have led tributes to the Hollywood veteran after he died on Monday, aged 78
The New Zealand actor, who was best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in the dinosaur franchise, died unexpectedly in Sydney, Australia, his family said
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.”
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Goldblum shared a photo of himself with Dern and Neill from Jurassic Park, 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, calledhim “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.”
Dallas Howard also shared a video of Neill singing The Beatles’ “Blackbird” at a piano with Dern and Goldblum
‘The loss was sudden and unexpected’
In a statement posted to Instagram, Neill’s family said: “It is with immense sadness that the whānau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia.”
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“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free.”
“More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 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
In 2023, Neill announced he had “a ferocious type of aggressive” non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He said in April this year that he was cancer-free after undergoing treatment
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
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Appearing alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough in the initial 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, scooping three Oscars in 1994 and spawning a series of sequels of varying success and critical acclaim
Neill did not reprise his role in 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park II, 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.”
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He told Forbes in 2022 that “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
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 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.”
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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.”
“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
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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
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 part. “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 have 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.”
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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.”
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 hailed Neill as “truly brilliant,” while The Traitors host Alan Cumming called him “a glorious, beautiful man.”
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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.”
