Sam Neill

In his early twenties, Neill fathered a son who was placed for adoption; the two reunited in 1994. In 1980, he had a son with actress Lisa Harrow, whom he met during the production of The Final Conflict. Neill married makeup artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989, with whom he had a daughter, while also adopting Watanabe's daughter from a previous marriage. Neill and Watanabe separated in 2017. Between 2018 and 2021, he was in a relationship with Australian political journalist Laura Tingle.

Outside of acting, Neill operated Two Paddocks, a vineyard and winery enterprise he established in 1993 within New Zealand's Central Otago region. He frequently shared stories of his farm animals on social media, often naming them after friends and colleagues in the film industry. In March 2023, he published his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, which detailed his career and personal reflections.

In March 2022, Neill was diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer discovered after he developed swollen glands during promotional duties for Jurassic World Dominion. Following chemotherapy and subsequent CAR T-cell therapy in an Australian clinical trial, he achieved remission. Neill died from pneumonia in Sydney, Australia, on 13 July 2026, at the age of 78.

Nigel John Dermot Neill was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to an English mother, Priscilla Beatrice Ingham, and a New Zealand father, Dermot Neill, an army officer with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. In 1954, the family relocated to New Zealand, settling in Christchurch before moving to Dunedin. As a schoolboy, Neill chose the name Sam to distinguish himself from other boys named Nigel and because he felt the name better suited his environment. During childhood, he managed a significant stammer, which he largely outgrew in adulthood.

Neill attended Christ's College in Christchurch as a boarder from 1961 and later entered the University of Canterbury, where he performed with the university drama society in productions directed by Dame Ngaio Marsh. After transferring to Victoria University of Wellington, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature in 1970. He began his professional stage career at Wellington's Downstage Theatre, appearing in productions such as Euripides' The Bacchae and Mervyn Thompson's staging of Marat/Sade.

Neill began working behind and in front of the camera for the New Zealand National Film Unit during the 1970s, directing documentaries such as Flare - A Ski Trip (1977) and Architect Athfield (1977). His acting breakthrough came with the 1977 feature Sleeping Dogs, the first New Zealand feature film widely distributed overseas. Moving to Australia, he gained international attention starring opposite Judy Davis in Gillian Armstrong's period drama My Brilliant Career (1979).

During the 1980s, Neill transitioned into international cinema with prominent roles as Damien Thorn in The Final Conflict (1981) and opposite Isabelle Adjani in Andrzej Żuławski's psychological horror film Possession (1981). He earned an early Golden Globe nomination for portraying the title character in the British miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). Neill also starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the thriller Dead Calm (1989) and played Michael Chamberlain alongside Meryl Streep in Evil Angels (1988), earning the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

In 1993, Neill reached global box-office success when Steven Spielberg cast him as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. That same year, he starred as Alisdair Stewart in The Piano, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Neill later reprised his role as Dr. Grant in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

Alongside his Hollywood work, Neill maintained an active television career. He starred in the title role of the 1998 fantasy miniseries Merlin, earning Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and returned for its 2006 sequel Merlin's Apprentice. He portrayed Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in the historical drama series The Tudors (2007) and took on the role of the ruthless Chief Inspector Chester Campbell in the early seasons of Peaky Blinders (2013-2014).

In New Zealand, Neill starred in Taika Waititi's critically acclaimed comedy-drama Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). In Australia, he led the cast of the legal drama series The Twelve as barrister Brett Colby, a performance that earned him Silver Logie Awards as well as the 2026 Logie Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, awarded posthumously.

Neill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to acting. In 2006, he was named a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, which he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion (KNZM) in 2022. He received the Longford Lyell Award for lifetime achievement from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts in 2019 and was named an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon in 2020.

Throughout his later years, Neill was an active environmental advocate. In Central Otago, he supported community opposition to a proposed large-scale open-cast gold mine near Cromwell, publicly backing local conservation groups to protect the natural landscape of the region.