Sam Neill, 'Jurassic Park' and 'The Piano' star, dies at 78

Sam Neill, the actor known worldwide for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in “Jurassic Park” and for acclaimed performances in films including “The Piano,” died Monday in Sydney, Australia. He was 78. His family announced the death in a statement posted to his official social media account, as reported by The Associated Press and ABC.

The family said Neill was surrounded by relatives when he died and described the loss as “sudden and unexpected.” No specific cause of death was publicly disclosed. In the same statement, the family said he “remained cancer free” at the time of his death, a detail likely to resonate with many fans after Neill had spoken publicly in recent years about treatment for lymphoma.

Neill was one of the most recognizable actors associated with New Zealand screen culture, with a career that moved easily between Hollywood blockbusters, prestige Australasian films and television. For international audiences, he was indelibly linked to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur thriller “Jurassic Park,” in which his skeptical, dry-witted Alan Grant became one of the film’s human anchors. He later returned to the role in “Jurassic Park III” in 2001 and “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.

But his standing rested on far more than one franchise. In 1993, the same year “Jurassic Park” made him a household name, he also appeared in Jane Campion’s “The Piano,” a film that helped define New Zealand and Australian cinema on the world stage. Earlier, he had starred in “My Brilliant Career” in 1979, “A Cry in the Dark” — released in some markets as “Evil Angels” — in 1988, and the 1989 thriller “Dead Calm,” credits that established him as a leading screen presence long before Hollywood blockbuster fame.

On television, Neill remained a familiar figure across decades. He received an Emmy nomination for the title role in “Merlin” and later appeared in series including “Peaky Blinders” and the 2024 adaptation of “Apples Never Fall.” The breadth of those roles underscored why his death carries particular cultural weight: he was a performer who could be equally credible in a mainstream studio spectacle, an art-house landmark and a high-profile TV drama.

Neill was born Nigel John Dermot Neill on Sept. 14, 1947, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He moved to New Zealand with his family at age 7 and became closely identified with the country’s screen culture, even as his career took him across British, Australian and American productions. For many viewers, he represented a generation of actors who helped give New Zealand and Australian film a larger international profile.

That made his 2023 disclosure about cancer especially widely followed. While promoting his memoir, “Did I Ever Tell You This?,” Neill revealed that he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In April 2026, he said he was cancer-free after taking part in a CAR-T cell therapy clinical trial in Australia, telling The Guardian: “I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing.” His family echoed that point Monday, saying he remained cancer-free when he died.

According to the AP, Neill is survived by four children and eight grandchildren. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned him as “one of the greats” and praised his contribution to New Zealand film. In a career that linked “Jurassic Park” to “The Piano” and stretched across film and television, Neill became one of the most globally recognized faces to emerge from New Zealand’s screen world.