{"id":688880,"date":"2026-07-13T07:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/688880\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T07:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:46:12","slug":"jurassic-park-legend-sam-neill-dies-aged-78-just-month-after-revealing-he-was-cancer-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/688880\/","title":{"rendered":"Jurassic Park legend Sam Neill dies aged 78 just month after revealing he was cancer-free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Neill in a still from hit movie Jurassic Park.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\ngetty<\/p>\n

Jurassic Park actor Sir Sam Neill has died at the age of 78, his family has revealed.<\/p>\n

The Northern Ireland-born star’s death was confirmed on his social media channels on Monday, after passing away in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n

The actor, who resided in New Zealand, received a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, initially declined it in 2009 before later accepting the honour in 2022.<\/p>\n

No cause of death has been given, but Neill revealed in April that he was cancer-free after a stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Neill at the “Apples Never Fall” Premiere in 2024.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nGetty
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

“It is with immense sadness that the wh\u0101nau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,\u201d the Instagram read.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life.<\/p>\n

Read more: Ann Widdecombe murder suspect seen leaving house with \u2018wooden stick\u2019 as neighbours say he \u2018lived alone and was rarely seen\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: Heartbreak as Antiques Roadshow star Theo Burrell dies aged just 39<\/a><\/p>\n

\"USA.<\/p>\n

USA. Sam Neill in a scene from the (C)Universal Pictures new film: Jurassic World Dominion (2022).<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"SAM<\/p>\n

SAM NEILL in JURASSIC PARK 1993 directed by STEVEN SPIELBERG.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

“The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent\u2019s Private Hospital for their incredible care.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”<\/p>\n

The actor is best known for his starring roles in Oscar-winning feature film The Piano and as Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg\u2019s iconic Jurassic Park franchise.<\/p>\n

\"Annette<\/p>\n

Annette Bening, Sam Neill arrives at Apples Never Fall LA Premiere Red Carpet held at The Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

A role that was originally offered to and subsequently turned down by actor Harrison Ford, Neill continued in the role across subsequent releases, including Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion.<\/p>\n

Neill’s career spanned all manner of roles, from romantic heroes to darkly charismatic villains.<\/p>\n

The star also featured in big screen releases including The Jungle Book, In the Mouth of Madness and Event Horizon.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand-based star also starred in Taika Waititi’s breakout hit Hunt for the Wilderpeople.<\/p>\n

He was among the leading actors battling it out to take over the role of James Bond from Roger Moore, carrying out screen tests in 1986.<\/p>\n

He ultimately lost out on the role to Timothy Dalton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Neill in a still from hit movie Jurassic Park. Picture: getty Jurassic Park actor Sir Sam Neill…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-688880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}