‘Jurassic Park’ Star Sam Neill Dies at 78

‘The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free,’ Neill’s family said in a statement.

Sam Neill attends the 2025 AACTA Awards in Gold Coast, Australia, on Feb. 7, 2025. Chris Hyde/Getty Images for AFI

The “Jurassic Park guy” Sam Neill has died at the age of 78.

The New Zealand actor, best known internationally for portraying palaeontologist Alan Grant in three Jurassic Park films, passed away in Sydney on July 13.

Neill’s family confirmed his death in a statement shared on his official Instagram account.

“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,” the statement read.

“The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”

Neill’s family said more details about his death would be announced later and asked the public to respect their privacy as they “navigate this immeasurable loss.”

From Ireland to New Zealand, Then the Screens

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill on Sept. 14, 1947, in Omagh, Northern Ireland, he moved with his family to New Zealand as a child, where he was raised in Christchurch.

After studying English literature at the University of Canterbury, Neill trained as an actor before joining the New Zealand Players Drama Quartet and later working with the New Zealand National Film Unit.

His breakthrough came with the 1977 film “Sleeping Dogs,” widely regarded as the first New Zealand feature to achieve significant international attention.

Neill achieved worldwide fame in 1993 when Steven Spielberg cast him as Grant in Jurassic Park. The film became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time and made Neill an international star. He later appeared in Jurassic Park 3 and Dominion.

Neill acted in a wide array of films and television dramas, including Peaky Blinders, The Piano, The Dish, and Event Horizon. More recently, he appeared in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople and had a cameo in the Thor movies, in which he portrayed a mock version of Odin.

A Life Beyond the Screens

In 2022, Neill revealed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer, after treatment for swollen glands that doctors initially thought was “undetected COVID.”

He later chronicled his illness in his memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?”—written while undergoing chemotherapy.

The actor announced he was cancer-free in April 2026 after undergoing CAR T-cell therapy as part of a clinical trial that proved successful.

In 2022, Neill was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to film.”

Neill’s family said the actor was surrounded by his family and passed away with dignity that had characterised his life.