Actor Sam Neill died on Monday, July 13, 2026, at the age of 78. In 2023, Neill announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, and in the spring of 2026, he shared that he was cancer free. His family issued a statement about his passing, sharing that he remained cancer free and that his death was sudden and unexpected.

Neill often played likeable, relatable leading men, but could also turn on the intensity to play imposing, frightening characters. He was best known for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park film series. He was also praised for his work in The Piano, a historical romantic film in which he played a New Zealand settler.

He was born Nigel John Dermot Neill on September 14, 1947, in Omagh, County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. His family moved to New Zealand in 1955, and he became interested in acting when he attended the University of Canterbury. After graduating from Victoria University, Neill spent a year touring with the Players’ Drama Quartet doing Shakespearean plays. For the next six years he was a director on documentaries and shorts for the New Zealand National Film Unit.

Neill’s first major onscreen acting role was in Sleeping Dogs, one of New Zealand’s first films that was played internationally, and he was in the Australian period film, My Brilliant Career. He took a scary turn as Damien the antichrist in the Omen III: The Final Conflict, was in Possession, portrayed a real life spy in the Reilly: Ace of Spies TV series, and he starred in Plenty with Meryl Streep.

In the psychological thriller Dead Calm, Neill played one half of a couple who encounter a killer at sea. He played a Russian officer in The Hunt for Red October, was in Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and In the Mouth of Madness he was an insurance agent who investigated an insane asylum. Neill played a spaceship designer turned conduit for a hell dimension in Event Horizon, portrayed Merlin the magician in the King Arthur miniseries, and he portrayed Scarlett Johansson’s dad in The Horse Whisperer.

Neill was in Bicentennial Man, Dirty Deeds, Perfect Strangers, Wimbledon, and played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors. He was in the Crusoe series, the prison break movie Escape Plan, Neill was corrupt inspector Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders, and he was an actor playing Odin in Thor: Ragnarok and Love and Thunder. He returned to playing Alan Grant in Jurassic World: Dominion, was in Apples Never Fall miniseries, he starred in The Twelve miniseries, and Neill’s last role was playing Grant once more for a Jurassic Park-set Xfinity commercial.