Renowned New Zealand actor Sam Neill has died at the age of 78. Over the course of his long career he appeared in Oscar winning films and commercial successes including The Piano and Jurassic Park.

News of the actor’s death was announced on Monday through a statement posted to his Instagram account. No cause of death was given, though the actor had only recently revealed that he had beaten cancer after being diagnosed in 2022 with stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

The Neill family’s statement read: “It is with immense sadness that the whanau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13 July, in Sydney, Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected, but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for the incredible care they gave him. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect our privacy as we come to terms with this immeasurable loss.”

Shortly afterwards, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the actor, writing on X: “Sam Neill starred in so many beloved Australian stories and earned a special place in the hearts of Australians. Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour and conviction that gave strength to every one of his performances. He will be greatly missed and long remembered. May he rest in peace.”

Who was Sam Neill

Sam Neill was born Nigel John Dermot Neill in 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland, to an English mother and a New Zealand father who was serving in the British army. The Neill family moved to New Zealand in 1954. He took the name Sam at the age of 12, because there were several other Nigels at his school, later explaining: “I found I moved through the world more easily as Sam. Nigel doesn’t fit easily into most situations. Imagine being a film actor called Nigel Neill.”

Neill was schooled and studied at university in Christchurch, but only decided to pursue acting after what he called a “disastrous” year studying law. He began appearing in productions at the University of Canterbury before moving to Wellington to join Downstage Theatre as a professional actor, where he was paid 35 dollars a week plus the kitchen leftovers from meals served to audiences before performances.

After a handful of small roles on local television, the role that brought him to prominence was in the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs, the first New Zealand film to be released in the United States. Shortly afterwards, he landed a lead role in My Brilliant Career (1979); played the devil’s son in Omen III (1981); appeared in Andrzej Zulawski’s cult film Possession (1981); starred in the 1988 biographical film Evil Angels (also known as A Cry in the Dark) as Michael, the husband of Lindy Chamberlain, alongside Meryl Streep; and appeared in The Hunt for Red October (1990). His role in Ivanhoe (1982) made Neill a familiar face in Sweden, where the film has been broadcast on television every New Year’s Day for 40 years.

Neill achieved wide international fame in 1993 through two performances: as New Zealand settler Alisdair Stewart in Jane Campion’s Oscar winning film The Piano, and as Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, a role originally offered to Harrison Ford. Neill reprised the role of Alan Grant in the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion.

Neill built his career playing memorable romantic leads and charismatic villains, appearing in more than 150 films across five decades, among them Dead Calm, The Jungle Book, In the Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon, Bicentennial Man, The Dish and Peter Rabbit. He was one of the frontrunners to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond and screen tested for the role in 1986, though the part ultimately went to Timothy Dalton.

In 2016 he starred in Taika Waititi’s hit film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which led to small appearances in Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder.

Neill also worked extensively in television, playing the corrupt Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders, as well as roles in The Twelve and The Tudors, alongside episodes of The Simpsons and Rick and Morty. He received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of spy Sidney Reilly in the 1983 mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies.

Neill lived on a farm and winery called Two Paddocks, in the wine growing region of Central Otago. He described it as “a business that consumes an outrageous amount of time and money. I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t so satisfying and enjoyable, and it drives me mad now and then.” He named the farm’s animals after fellow actors, including Laura Dern (a chicken), Kylie Minogue (a duck) and Helena Bonham Carter (a cow).

In 2023, Neill revealed in his memoir, titled Did I Ever Tell You This?, that he had undergone chemotherapy for a year after being diagnosed with stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. By the time the book was published, his cancer was in remission, though he continued monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life, having signed an agreement with the pharmaceutical company under which, if he were still alive after four months, the treatment would be provided free of charge. “I’m not scared of dying,” he told The Guardian in 2023, “but it would piss me off. Because I really would like another decade or two, do you know what I mean? We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypress trees, and I want to be here to see it all mature. And I’ve got these gorgeous little grandchildren. I want to see them grow up. But as for death? I don’t mind at all.”

He said he “dreaded” any prospect of retirement. “Part of it is to do with the fact that I come from a small place, the most obscure place in the world, about as far away from anywhere as you could possibly be, and I got asked to do something with an international dimension. How incredibly seductive is that?”

Neill was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1991 for services to acting, and a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM) in 2007. Years later, after a change to New Zealand’s honours system allowed recipients to convert their DCNZM into a knighthood, Neill accepted the honour and became “Sir” Sam Neill in 2022.

Neill jokingly described his family life as “somewhat accidental” because of his career. He is survived by four children and six grandchildren. His children are Andrew, who was given up for adoption when Neill was in his twenties but was reunited with his father in 1994; Tim, his son with actress Lisa Harrow; Elena, his daughter with make-up artist Noriko Watanabe; and Maiko, Watanabe’s daughter from her first marriage, whom Neill adopted.