1947
A story begins
Omagh, Northern Ireland
Nigel John Dermot Neill was born in Omagh to Priscilla Neill, who was English, and Dermot Neill, a New Zealander serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
SamNeill
1947 — 2026
One life.Millions of memories.
Explore his life
A lifein stories
Before the memories, there was the life that created them.
1954
Home in New Zealand
Christchurch, New Zealand
At seven, he moved with his family to Christchurch. New Zealand became the place he called home and the centre of his life away from film sets.
Early 1970s
Learning the language of film
New Zealand National Film Unit
Before international fame, Neill worked behind the camera at the National Film Unit, writing, editing, and directing documentaries. He was learning how films were built while finding his way as an actor.
1977
Sleeping Dogs
Smith
Roger Donaldson cast Neill as the reluctant hero of a political thriller that became a breakthrough for both men and the first New Zealand-made feature released in the United States.
1979
My Brilliant Career
Harry Beecham
As Harry Beecham opposite Judy Davis, Neill found an international audience in Gillian Armstrong's landmark Australian film.
1981
Possession
Mark
Andrzej Żuławski's feverish psychological horror asked for one of Neill's most extreme performances. The film grew into a cult landmark and revealed how fearlessly strange his choices could be.
1983
Reilly, Ace of Spies
Sidney Reilly
Neill led the British miniseries as the elusive intelligence agent Sidney Reilly. The performance earned him the first of his three Golden Globe nominations.
1988–1989
Two unforgettable Australian dramas
A Cry in the Dark and Dead Calm
In consecutive years, Neill played Michael Chamberlain opposite Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark and John Ingram opposite Nicole Kidman in Dead Calm — two very different performances that deepened his international reputation.
1991
Honoured for acting
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Neill was appointed an OBE for his services as an actor — formal recognition of a career that was still only gathering breadth and momentum.
1993
Two Paddocks
Gibbston, Central Otago
With modest ambitions, Neill planted five acres of pinot noir at Gibbston. The little vineyard grew into Two Paddocks, an organic family winery rooted across Central Otago.
1993
The Piano
Alisdair Stewart
Jane Campion's The Piano premiered at Cannes and shared the Palme d'Or. As the controlling frontiersman Alisdair Stewart, Neill gave 1993 a dark counterpoint to the wonder that would follow.
As Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993) — Universal Pictures
1993
Welcome to Jurassic Park
Dr. Alan Grant
Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park made Neill's Dr. Alan Grant one of cinema's most beloved scientists — practical, sceptical, brave, and filled with wonder when it mattered.
For millions of viewers, Alan Grant became inseparable from the first sight of living dinosaurs. Neill gave the spectacle a human centre and inspired generations of childhood fascinations with fossils, fieldwork, and science.
1995
Cinema of Unease
A personal journey through New Zealand film
Neill returned behind the camera, co-directing with Judy Rymer a personal history of New Zealand cinema. The documentary placed the films of his homeland within the Century of Cinema series and screened at Cannes.
1997
Event Horizon
Dr. William Weir
As the haunted designer of a vanished spacecraft, Neill helped turn Paul W. S. Anderson's science-fiction horror into an enduring cult favourite.
1998
Merlin
Merlin
Neill took the title role in the television miniseries Merlin, earning another Golden Globe nomination and bringing gravity, humour, and weariness to the legendary wizard.
2001
Dr. Grant returns
Jurassic Park III
Eight years after Jurassic Park, Neill returned as Alan Grant — older, more wary, and still the person audiences trusted when everything went wrong on an island full of dinosaurs.
2007
A New Zealand honour
Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand appointed Neill a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to acting.
2013–2014
Peaky Blinders
Chief Inspector Chester Campbell
As Tommy Shelby's ruthless nemesis, Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, Neill brought menace and damaged conviction to the first two series of Peaky Blinders.
As Uncle Hec in Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
2016
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Uncle Hec
Taika Waititi paired Neill's gruff Uncle Hec with Julian Dennison's Ricky Baker for a funny, tender adventure through the New Zealand bush — and a new generation fell in love with him.
2019
The Longford Lyell Award
Australia's highest screen honour
AACTA presented Neill with the Longford Lyell Award, its highest individual honour, recognising his contribution to Australian screen culture.
2022
Sir Sam Neill
Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
His 2007 honour was redesignated as a knighthood. After once feeling that 'Sir' was too grand, he accepted the title in recognition of the profession and the people he had worked beside.
With Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic World Dominion (2022) — Universal Pictures
2022
The original trio, together again
Jurassic World Dominion
Nearly three decades after Jurassic Park, Neill returned as Alan Grant alongside Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. For longtime audiences, the reunion carried an entire childhood back onto the screen.
“I'm not afraid to die, but it would annoy me.”
2023
Did I Ever Tell You This?
A life, written down
After being diagnosed with stage-three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in 2022, Neill used a year away from acting to write his memoir. It arrived as a generous, funny collection of memories rather than what he called a cancer book.
2025
Aotearoa's Screen Legend
New Zealand Screen Awards
The New Zealand Screen Awards named Neill its 2025 Screen Legend, celebrating five decades of work that carried New Zealand stories and talent around the world.
April 2026
Good news — and a hope for others
Cancer-free after a clinical trial
After chemotherapy stopped working, Neill joined an Australian clinical trial using CAR T-cell therapy. He announced that scans showed no cancer and used the moment to argue that more patients should have access to the treatment.
13 July 2026
A life that stays with us
Sydney, Australia
Sam Neill died suddenly in Sydney at 78, surrounded by family. His whānau said he remained cancer-free and asked for privacy as they mourned an immeasurable loss. No official cause of death was disclosed in their announcement.
Across more than five decades, he moved easily between New Zealand stories, Australian cinema, European art films, Hollywood adventures, television, documentary work, writing, and wine. The performances remain — and so do the memories people made while watching them.
Every role becamesomeone's memory.
From the archive
Watch him again
A few minutes of Sam, as he was.
Say it again, Sam
Lines to remember
From the films, and from the man himself.
AmandaThis is how you make dinosaurs?
Dr. GrantNo. This is how you play God.
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The archive
A life in pictures
Stills, sets, honours, and home.
RIP, dinosaur man.
Thanks for all the memories.
You'll always be in our hearts.
1947 — 2026