Actor Sam Neill, 78, has died at a Sydney hospital after pneumonia, his agent confirmed. He was best known for roles in Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders and was described by family as dying suddenly and unexpectedly.
Philip Grenz, Neill’s long‑time representative, spoke with the actor’s family and clarified the circumstances: “Sam passed away from pneumonia. He had beaten non‑Hodgkin’s lymphoma through a new CAR‑T therapy and had remained cancer‑free up to his death.”
Over the past year Neill had filmed four projects back‑to‑back, all of which will release in the near future. A private memorial will be held at his farm in New Zealand at a later, undetermined date.
Tributes have poured in from fellow actors, including Laura Dern and Toni Collette, and from New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who called him “one of the greats.”
His career spanned more than five decades with over 150 screen credits, including The Piano, Dead Calm and Event Horizon. His final film appearance was in The Fox (2025) and his last TV role was in Netflix’s Untamed (2025). Posthumous appearances are scheduled for Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort (2027).
In his 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, Neill reflected on his cancer journey: “I am not afraid of dying. What I don’t want is to stop living, because I really enjoy living.” He described life as an adventure, perhaps a dark one, but still an adventure.
Neill is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.
