Sam Neill’s cause of death at 78 is confirmed by Jurassic Park star’s manager
Actor Sam Neill has been confirmed to have died of pneumonia at the age of 78.
Neill’s manager Philip Grenz said: TMZ It was announced that the Jurassic Park star succumbed to the disease.
His manager said Neill had previously successfully battled lymphoma after undergoing CAR-T therapy, a new treatment.
In 2023, Neill announced that he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. According to a statement published on the actor’s social media page, he died in Sydney on Monday.
The statement stated that his death was “sudden and unexpected” and added that he “remained cancer-free” at the time of his death.
‘Sam was surrounded by his family and lived with the dignity that characterized his entire life,’ his family wrote.
Actor Sam Neill has died of pneumonia at the age of 78, his manager has announced; Picture taken in Auckland, New Zealand in 2025
Neill’s manager, Philip Grenz, confirmed the Jurassic Park actor’s cause of death to TMZ after he died in Sydney on Monday; Pictured in the 2016 film Hunt For The Wilderpeople
Grenz also said Neill is holding a small memorial service at his family’s farm in New Zealand, with a select number of friends and relatives on hand to attend.
His manager said there will be no major public gatherings or celebrations of life, in line with the actor’s wishes as he prefers to keep things low-key.
Neill has been working on four consecutive projects over the past year, his manager said, adding that they are expected to be released in the next few months.
After the announcement of Neill’s death, a moment of silence was paid by his actor and director friends, including Steven Spielberg, who directed the first Jurassic Park movie.
‘I loved shooting all the Jurassic movies with him. “We will always have our Jurassic family with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his millions of fans around the world,” Spielberg said in a statement.
Actor Sharon Lawrence wrote on Instagram: ‘We offer our condolences and appreciation for the tremendous joy and ingenuity Sam Neill brought to our industry.’
Neill was one of a number of actors and directors who rose to international fame, along with Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Jane Campion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong, following the boom in Australian films that began in the late 1970s.
His range was remarkable, from starring opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy Sweet Revenge to cutting off Hunter’s finger in The Piano to ripping out his own eyes in the sci-fi horror Event Horizon.
His manager said Neill had previously successfully battled lymphoma after undergoing CAR-T therapy, a new treatment; Photographed in Venice in 2017
Neill is known for his role as paleontologist Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, as well as Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World: Dominion (2022); Photo taken at Jurassic Park with Ariana Richards (L) and Joseph Mazzello (R)
He has played both saint and sinner: he played Damien the Antichrist in Omen III: The Final Conflict, and also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors.
The actor first came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong’s 1979 film My Brilliant Career, which also introduced Judy Davis. He next starred in Phillip Noyce’s classy sea-set thriller Dead Calm, co-starring the then-unknown Nicole Kidman.
Neill appeared twice opposite Meryl Streep in Australian director Fred Schepisi’s films Plenty and A Cry in the Dark.
The second film retold the sensational consequences of the real-life murder of a baby by a dingo in the Australian Outback.
Neill earned Emmy nominations for his leading role in the 1998 miniseries Merlin and his performance as the narrator of 2017’s Wild New Zealand.
Neill also earned three Golden Globe nominations for Merlin, One Against the Wind and Reilly: Ace of Spies.
Longtime friend Richard E. Grant, who starred with Neill in 2019’s Palm Beach, described him as ‘true an officer and a gentleman’ in a post on Instagram.
Grant said Neill ‘guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my life’.
Following the announcement of Neill’s death, tributes were paid by his fellow actors and directors. Picture 2019
Neill perhaps achieved his highest fame in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park as Alan Grant, a paleontologist summoned to an island off the coast of Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs.
His character was thoughtful and logical; It was a scientist who warned the theme park genius before the chaos: ‘Dinosaurs and humans, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution, suddenly came back into the mix. ‘How could we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?’
Grant survived the harrowing events of the creatures’ release, but did not return for 1997’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park II. He returned for the third installment in 2001 and Jurassic World: Dominion in 2022.
“It’s probably a little late to learn these things, but I feel like I’ve finally figured out how to be an action hero,” he told the New York Daily News in 2001. I’m happier with Grant this time. He’s gnarly and gray-haired, but he looks like he knows what he’s doing.’
