Sam Neill, star of 'Jurassic Park', dies at 78

Sam Neillthe actor recognized for his leading role in the franchise Jurassic Parkdied at the age of 78, in Australia.

The cause is currently unknown, although his death was described by a family spokesperson as “sudden and unexpected,” according to a press release published on Neill's social networks on Sunday night:

“It is with immense sadness that the family of Sam Neill announces his passing on Monday, July 13 in Sydney, Australia.

“Sam was surrounded by his family and passed away with the dignity that characterized his entire life. The loss was sudden and unexpected, but we take comfort in the fact that Sam remained cancer-free. We want to express our deepest gratitude to the staff at St. Vincent's Private Hospital for their incredible care. We will share more details later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they deal with this immense loss.”

After a long battle against blood cancer, the author of Did I Ever Tell You This? revealed earlier this year that he was free of the disease thanks to the Australian clinical trials in which he participated.

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in 1974 in Omagh, Northern Ireland, he and his family moved to his father's homeland in the South Pacific in 1954. After his acting career took off with Sleeping Dogs by Roger Donaldson in 1977, and now known as Sam Neill, he moved to Australia in the late 1970s to seek better opportunities. In 1979, a great door opened for him when he was recognized at Cannes for his performance in the successful film My Brilliant Careerdirected by Gillian Armstrong and starring Judy Davis.

For the last 45 years, Neill has been present on the big and small screen, playing a variety of roles, not only in gender but also as protagonist and antagonist. Some of his most remembered projects are Dead Calm (1980), The Hunt for Red October (1990), the winner of the Palme d'Or, The Piano (1993), the cult classic Event Horizon (1997), The Horse Whisperer (1998), Bicentennial Man (1999), Wimbledon (2004), The Vow (2012), Escape Plan (2013), The Commuter (2018), Ride Like a Girl (2019), without forgetting series like The Tudors de Showtime, Alcatraz de Fox, Invasion from Apple TV, Apples Never Fall from Peacock, the first two seasons of Peaky Blindersand more recently, Untamed from Netflix, and The Twelve de Binge.

The actor auditioned to be James Bond in the 1980s, but the role ultimately went to Timothy Dalton.

Most moviegoers, however, will always remember him as Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg's iconic film Jurassic Park (1993), reprising his iconic role in the 2001 sequel, Jurassic Park IIIand later in Jurassic World: Dominion (2022). Additionally, he lent his voice in the 2018 video game, Jurassic World Evolution y Jurassic World Evolution of 2021.

Neill has two film projects in post-production and scheduled for release in 2027: Godzilla x Kong: Supernovaa new installment of the MonsterVerse from Universal and Legendary, and the rom-com The Last Resort.

In 2022, he was knighted as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Neill, who was married twice and was the founder of New Zealand winery Two Paddocks, leaves behind four children and eight grandchildren.

Rest in peace, Sam Neill.