Sam Niell at the premiere of ‘Apples Never Fall’ in Los Angeles, California, in 2024. (Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP)
Sam Neill, known for his role in the Jurassic Park-movie series, died on Monday at the age of 78.
His death in Sydney, Australia, was apparently “sudden and unexpected”.
“He was surrounded by family and died with dignity that characterized his entire life,” reads a message on social media.
Neill announced in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer, but said in April this year that he was cancer-free.
Neill was born in Northern Ireland and moved to New Zealand with his family at the age of seven.
In 1993, he first played the role of dr. Alan Grant opposite Laura Dern in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park interpret.
“It was a very happy, surprising life,” Neill told CNN in 2023 on the 30th anniversary of the movie’s release.
“I never expected to have a career in films, or even as an actor, but it happened and no one is more surprised than me.”
He was also well known for his roles in the Oscar-winning The Pianoas well as The Hunt for Red October in Event Horizon.
Sam Neill in ‘Jurassic Park’. (Foto: IMDb)
Neill also later has a policeman in the hit series Peaky Blinders played
He auditioned for the role of James Bond, but did not get the role.
“If you are a Bond, you are forever famous – and I have never been and will never want to be famous,” he said in an interview with BBC.
Neill led a peaceful and full life outside of Hollywood on his farm in New Zealand and named his animals after Hollywood icons, some of which themselves became celebrities on Neill’s social media platforms.
“I love to name as many of my animals as possible after my friends. It doesn’t always end well. Meryl Streep was recently killed by a ferret. One day I found her just a pile of feathers,” he added in 2019 Vulture tell.
Neill was also a passionate environmental activist and released a short documentary early this year about a proposed gold mine in New Zealand’s central Otago region.
In 1993, he started his own organic winery, Two Paddocks, among the Otago hills, with the aim of making a good pinot noir that his friends and family would enjoy.
Additional sources: BBC, CNN