Actor Sam Neill, best known for his iconic roles in Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders, died from pneumonia, his longtime agent has confirmed. Neill passed away on Monday at a hospital in Sydney at the age of 78, with his family previously describing his death as “sudden and unexpected”.
His representative Philip Grenz shared the update after speaking with Neill’s family, saying he wanted to address “inaccurate and outright falsehoods” surrounding the actor’s passing. Grenz revealed that Neill had successfully battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma through CAR-T therapy and had remained cancer-free before his death.
Despite his health challenges, Neill continued working and completed four projects in the past year, which are expected to be released in the coming months. His agent described him as a private person who preferred to avoid attention, adding that his family plans to honour him with a private memorial at his New Zealand farm.
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Tributes have poured in from across the entertainment world following news of his death. Jurassic Park co-star Laura Dern called him her “beloved lifetime friend”, while Australian actor Toni Collette and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon praised Neill as a legend and one of the country’s greatest talents. With a career spanning more than five decades and over 150 screen credits, Neill leaves behind a lasting legacy in film and television.
