Sam Neill, an actor known for movies like “Jurassic Park” and TV series including “Peaky Blinders,” died Monday. He was 78.
Neill’s family announced his passing in a statement published on the actor’s Instagram account. “Sam was surrounded by [family] and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,” they wrote. “The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.” The family did not specify Neill’s cause of death, but thanked the medical staff at St. Vincent’s Private Hospital.
Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in 2023, and in 2026 revealed that he was “cancer free” after undergoing a clinical trial.
He was best known for playing the adventuring paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in “Jurassic Park,” a role he reprised in several subsequent films in the franchise including 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion,” which reunited him with his co-stars from the first movie, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. His other, varied film work included roles in “The Piano,” “Event Horizon,” “Wimbledon,” “The Vow,” and “The Horse Whisperer.”
Sam Neill played a major Peaky Blinders villain
Sam Neill also played Major Chester Campbell — one of the most sadistic villains in the BBC’s “Peaky Blinders.” Campbell is brought over from Northern Ireland to track down a missing shipment of weapons in Birmingham, which puts him at odds with Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy) and the rest of the titular gang. Neill brings a cold, calculating presence to the show rather than a physical threat, and his war with the Shelby clan dominates the first two seasons of the show.
He also played a key role in the Showtime drama, “The Tudors,” as Cardinal Wolsey, the closest advisor to Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). More recently, he appeared in the premiere of Apple TV’s “Invasion,” as retiring sheriff Jim Tyson, who discovers mysterious crop circles in Oklahoma.
Despite his Hollywood icon status, Neill lived away from the spotlight in New Zealand. During his recovery from cancer in 2023, he told The Guardian about his outlook on life, saying: “I’m not afraid to die … but it would annoy me. Because I’d really like another decade or two, you know? We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big.”
He added: “But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less.”
