The celebrated actor died on July 13 at the age of 78<\/p>\n
\n\tTwo days after\u00a0Sam Neill\u2019s death<\/a>, the beloved actor\u2019s cause of death has been revealed.<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to Philip Grenz, Neill\u2019s longtime representative, the actor died of pneumonia. In a statement shared with\u00a0Entertainment Weekly<\/a>\u00a0on Wednesday, Grenz said, \u201cAs Sam was an intensely private man who loathed a fuss, his family will honor him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe news of Neill\u2019s death at 78 came just a few months after he\u00a0shared\u00a0that he was cancer-free <\/a>after a lengthy struggle with lymphoma. In 2023, the actor announced he was\u00a0diagnosed<\/a>\u00a0with stage 3 blood cancer. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid to die,\u201d said in an interview with\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>, \u201cbut it would annoy me. Because I\u2019d really like another decade or two, you know? We\u2019ve built all these lovely terraces, we\u2019ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I\u2019ve got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big.\u201d He said, \u201cBut as for the dying? I couldn\u2019t care less.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tNeill, who was best known for starring in the\u00a0Jurassic Park\u00a0franchise, had a prolific career in film and television. He became a household name in the 1990s after featuring in films like\u00a0The Hunt for Red October,\u00a0The Piano,\u00a0Jurassic Park,\u00a0Event Horizon, and\u00a0The Horse Whisperer.<\/p>\n