New Zealand actor Sam Neill, best known for Sleeping Dogs, Jurassic Park, and Peaky Blinders, has died on July 13, 2026, at the age of 78.
Neill passed away in Sydney, Australia. The cause of death has not been disclosed, although the actor had recently announced that he was cancer free after undergoing treatment for angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma.
According to a statement shared on Neill's social media accounts, his passing was "sudden and unexpected," and he was "surrounded by family." His relatives also thanked the staff at St. Vincent's Private Hospital for their exceptional care and support.
Sam Neill's career spanned more than five decades and included over 150 screen credits, making him one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors. He is best remembered for portraying Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, later reprising the role in Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion.
Born in 1947 and raised in New Zealand, Neill first gained international recognition through Sleeping Dogs in 1977 and the acclaimed Australian drama My Brilliant Career in 1979. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he established himself as one of the industry's most versatile leading actors, starring in films such as Possession, Dead Calm, The Jungle Book, and The Piano.
Horror fans also remember Neill for his performances in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness and Paul W. S. Anderson's Event Horizon. On television, he portrayed Merlin in the 1998 miniseries of the same name, Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors, and Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders. More recently, he appeared in Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder, and Netflix's Untamed.
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