āJurassic Parkā star Sam Neill dead at 78
Sam Neill, the star of the 1993 blockbuster āJurassic Parkā died at 78 Monday, his family announced.
āIt is with immense sadness that the whÄnau [family] of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,ā theyĀ said on Instagram.
āSam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life.
āThe loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
āThey would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincentās Private Hospital for their incredible care.
āMore 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.ā
The actorās death comes just two months after he announced he was cancer-free following his battle with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma ā a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
āIāve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business but it was keeping me alive,ā heĀ told Australiaās 7NewsĀ in April.
Neill, who was born in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland in 1947, was forced to seek an alternative when doctors told him chemotherapy stopped working.
āI was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasnāt ideal obviously,ā he said.
He then took part in a trial for CAR T-cell therapy ā a form of immunotherapy that trains T-cells to destroy cancer cells.
āIāve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, thatās an extraordinary thing,ā he said, reflecting on the success of his trial.
āIām very, very excited that this can happen. Itās time I did another movie.ā
Neill previouslyĀ said he was ānot remotely afraidā of dyingĀ as he battled cancer.
āI know Iāve got it, but Iām not really interested in it,ā he said.
Neill, who moved to New Zealand in 1954, was best known for playing the paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in āJurassic Park,ā a role he would reprise in āJurassic Park IIIā in 2001, and āJurassic World: Dominionā in 2022.
He starred in John Carpenterās āMemoirs of an Invisible Man,ā playing shady CIA operative David Jenkins ā a role that earned him a Saturn Award nomination in 1993 from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
Neill also starred in the BAFTA-winning series āPeaky Blinders,ā playing Inspector Chester Campbell in 12 episodes between 2013 and 2014.
More recently, Neill appeared in miniseries such as āApples Never Fall,ā āUntamedā and āThe Twelve.ā
He has acting credits for the upcoming 2027 movie āGodzilla X Kong: Supernovaā but his character remains under wraps.
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Neill will be āmourned and long remembered.ā
āSam Neill starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts,ā heĀ wrote on X.
āWry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour and conviction that gave strength to his every performance.
āHe will be much mourned and long remembered. May he rest in peace.ā



