The Northern Ireland born and New Zealand actor, best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, died on Monday, just months after he was deemed “cancer-free” following a battle with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
Sam was best known for his legendary Jurassic Park role but the actor also once appeared in a ‘masterpiece’ 2002 drama series alongside Keira Knightley.
Doctor Zhivago was released in 2002. It is based on the 1957 novel of the same title by Boris Pasternak, which was also turned into a film in 1965.
The 2002 series is available to watch on ITV and ITVX, who have described it as: “Keira Knightley stars in this gripping drama set in the tumultuous era of WW1 and the Russian Revolution. Dr Zhivago finds himself tormented by his his love for two women.”
Meanwhile, a synopsis adds: “Having witnessed his father’s suicide, Yury is sent to live in Moscow with his uncle, aunt and cousin. Whilst there, he becomes captivated by a stunning young girl called Lara.”
The character of Yuri Zhivago is played by Hans Matheson, Keira plays Lara Guishar Antipova and Sam plays Victor Komarovsky. Other cast members include Kris Marshall as Pasha Antipov/Strelnikov, Celia Imrie as Anna Gromeko and Hugh Bonneville as Andrey Zhivago – to name just a few.
The series, directed by Giacomo Campiotti, has an impressive 78% Rotten Tomatoes score with many viewers calling it a ‘masterpiece’. One person said: “A masterpiece by Giacomo Campiotti”, adding: “It deserves an Oscar.”
Another fan put: “Wow – this was fantastic! It really all came together with the last installment and truly broke my heart. I don’t see how anyone could not fall madly in love with Hans Matheson as Yury, and Kiera Knightley brought such maturity and worldliness to such a difficult role (amazing at such a young age).
“Both actors should be commended. And as for Sam Neill! He was amazing. The screen practically frosted up when he appeared!”
A different viewer commented: “I haven’t seen the 1st version of Dr Zhivago or read the book but this film is absolutely amazing. I suppose i can’t really judge because of not really knowing the story before this, but as far as I can tell Its a wonderful love story although it is shocking in bits of it.”
Meanwhile, another person added: “I have never seen the original Doctor Zhivago film, so I can’t take any prejudged bias. This mini-series is possibly the best UK mini-series I have ever seen and is a sign that perhaps the UK networks are serious about creating some top quality drama television that HBO have been producing for ages!
“The acting is top quality, however, Sam Neill on top form steals every scene he’s in, and that’s saying something with the quality around him on screen.”
Doctor Zhivago is available to watch on ITV and ITVX
Actor Sam Neill expressed a simple wish for his legacy nearly a year before he died at age 78.
The New Zealand star beloved for his leading role in the “Jurassic Park” films said in an August 2025 interview with The Telegraph, published Wednesday, that he wanted to be remembered for his kindness. Neill, reminiscing on mortality, said this wish was inspired by a painting he owned by Helena Bonham Carter’s mother, Elena Propper de Callejón.
“It is a very sweet watercolor of a funny old thing in a flowery dress and bonnet,” Neill said of the artwork. “At the bottom of the painting is an inscription: ‘But she was kind…’ When I am no longer about, I hope someone will be able to say that about me.”
Neill died suddenly Monday in Sydney, his family confirmed on Instagram.
The actor announced in April that he was in remission after five years of living with cancer due to a new cancer therapy. He battled Stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Neill was in remission at the time of his conversation with The Telegraph.
After news of Neill’s death spread, his collaborators remembered him for his talent and his kindness — just as he had hoped. Laura Dern, who played Dr. Ellie Sattler opposite Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park,” wrote, Neill “showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit.”
She continued: “He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.”
His “Peaky Blinders” co-star Cillian Murphy remembered Neill as “one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors,” while Nicole Kidman celebrated Neill as “one of the greats.”
Neill appeared in about 150 film and TV productions throughout his career. His notable credits include films “The Hunt for Red October,” “The Piano” and “Evil Angels” and shows “The Tudors” and “Apples Never Fall.”
For The Telegraph, Neill also discussed his humble upbringing, how he felt his acting career had been a “complete fluke” and his perspective on life amid his cancer battle.
“I have had the odd brush with cancer, so every day is a bonus these days,” he explained. “Life lesson: never take a single day for granted.”
Rarely would Sam Neill, who died Monday, carry a film on his own, but what he did in several of them, modestly and dependably, was equally as important. His nuanced supporting work allowed some of the greatest actresses of their moment attain their first fireworks. And even though he starred in one of Hollywood’s hugest blockbusters, it takes a certain kind of confidence to share the spotlight with a dinosaur. Here are Neill’s highlights, all worth rewatching for the sake of better appreciating a sophisticated presence often on the sidelines.
‘My Brilliant Career’ (1979)
Sam Neill and Judy Davis in the movie “My Brilliant Career.”
(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
Gillian Armstrong’s first feature is a landmark of the Australian New Wave and feminist cinema, signaling the arrival of the great Judy Davis and containing the most erotically charged (and quite possibly the longest) pillow fight in movie history. It works splendidly for countless reasons, not the least of which is Neill’s presence as the charming suitor of Davis’ headstrong heroine. Set in 1897 in rural Australia, the film follows Davis’ Sybylla, who dreams of becoming a writer, an unconventional aspiration given her family’s poverty and societal norms. Then she meets a wealthy charmer, played by Neill, and he proposes. It should be an easy decision, particularly since Sybylla loves him and Neill makes him so irresistible. That Sybylla does, in fact, resist, choosing independence over love and the possibility of perennial pillow fights, makes “My Brilliant Career” so daring and thrilling. — Glenn Whipp
‘Possession’ (1981)
Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill in the movie “Possession.”
(Metrograph Pictures)
It’s being remade with Margaret Qualley and the main reason for the movie’s notoriety remains Isabelle Adjani’s unhinged, incantatory performance, a collection of freak-outs that’s still unmatched. But one can argue that Adjani couldn’t have gotten there without the slightly milquetoast banality of her character’s husband, played by Neill as one of the least exciting on-screen spies of the 1980s. (She’s already cheating on him when the movie begins.) He doesn’t seem cut out to be a family man either, but Neill’s cuckolded complaining, hard to pull off this confidently, may be what’s driving her to self-harm in the first place. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘The Final Conflict’ (1981)
More than a decade before his “Jurassic Park” role, Neill delivered a chilling turn as the Antichrist in “The Final Conflict,” better known as the third film in “The Omen” franchise, about a couple that unwittingly adopts the son of Satan. In this second sequel, Neill plays an adult Damien Thorn, now a U.S ambassador to the United Kingdom who is determined to stop the second coming of Christ. With sinister smiles and steely glares, Neill makes Damien his own, waging a murderous campaign against a group of priests, his voice dripping with contempt as he vows to slay “the Nazarene” when he is born. — Greg Braxton
‘Dead Calm’ (1989)
Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman on the set of the movie “Dead Calm.”
(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
We remember Philip Noyce’s claustrophobic cat-and-mouse thriller primarily as Nicole Kidman’s big-screen breakthrough. But, and you may be noticing a theme here, the movie would not work without Neill, who had a gift for playing opposite strong-minded women. Kidman and Neill are a married couple embarking on an ocean adventure to work through the loss of their child. They happen upon a crazy-eyed stranger (Billy Zane) on a sinking schooner, take him aboard and things go south from there. Part Cary Grant, part MacGyver, Neill gives a great physical performance, which he parlayed into well-paying Hollywood action roles for the rest of his career. None came close, though, to his flare-gun theatrics here. — Glenn Whipp
‘Jurassic Park’ (1993)
You go for the dinosaurs and there’s no shame in that. But credit Neill for both understanding the assignment and not quite settling for those awed stares of Spielbergian wonder. His Alan Grant is distinct enough to register as prickly and a little inside himself. He absolutely hates children, even as the whole plot, somewhat obviously, steers him in the opposite direction. He’s not Jeff Goldblum-level rascally, but he’s confident enough to go his own way and make a killer joke at a high-voltage fence. Acting-wise, Neill has already held his own opposite several forces of nature (see above). Raptors were nothing. — Joshua Rothkopf
‘The Piano’ (1993)
Sam Neill in the move “The Piano.”
(The Criterion Collection)
So many of Neill’s most memorable movies feature him supporting the singular vision of great directors, as is the case with Jane Campion’s 1993 landmark. Neill plays the awkward, ignorant Scottish farmer who arranges for a mail-order marriage with Holly Hunter’s mute pianist and then becomes possessive and driven to jealous despair. We hate him. Which was fine by Neill, as he wrote in his 2023 memoir: “There is honour to be found in the second fiddle. Or fourth. No one notices you much, you don’t get nominated for things. But you served. I was there in an important feminist film. It’s a work of art. And look, that tiny little figure in the fabric — see down there on the right — that’s me. It’s a film that will always have a place in cinema history. And I served in it.” — Glenn Whipp
‘In the Mouth of Madness’ (1994)
Finally, a leading role. Granted it’s one in which Neill, strapped in a straitjacket, screams things like “I’m not insane!” But if you’re a fan of his brand of slightly unconvinced heroism, John Carpenter’s horror movie — about an insurance investigator on the hunt for a missing Stephen King-like author — is an enjoyable watch. Carpenter was never one to overexplain things to his actors (it’s why you find so many rich, self-directed performances in his movies) and Neill’s snoop definitely goes through the looking glass, from disbelieving cynic to true believer. Genre movies thrive on his kind of total commitment. — Joshua Rothkopf
NO-ONE travelled further to become an international star than Sam Neill, who died today aged 78.
He would leave his home in the South Island of New Zealand to fly thousands of miles to film sets in Britain, Europe and America – but always travel back to his far-flung base the moment they were over to spend time with his family.
Sam Neill has died aged 78Credit: APSam starred as Dr. Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic ParkCredit: Alamy
They confirmed his death in a statement, writing: “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney, Australia.”
This followed a battle with stage three blood cancer after he was diagnosed in 2022.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
After undertaking an experimental treatment announced a month ago he was in remission.
His family said: “The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer- free.”
The legendary actor starred in the hit British show Peaky BlindersCredit: AlamyHis death comes only months after he confirmed he was cancer-freeCredit: instagram / SamNeillTheProp
Sam became famous thanks to his role in Omen III (The Final Conflict) where he played the antichrist who had risen to become a British politician trying to prevent the second coming of Christ.
Before then starring in 1983 British TV series, Reilly, Ace of Spies, in which he played Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became a successful spy during the First World War.
But his entry to the big-time came ten years later in Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, which spawned a craze for everything about dinosaurs.
The film, about a theme park where the public could see cloned dinosaurs, caught the public’s imagination – and broke box office records.
The dinosaurs run riot in the film when all safety fences are broken, killing park workers and each other as there is a battle for supremacy.
Neill’s lead role of dinosaur expert Dr Alan Grant escaped the carnage and went on to star in sequels, Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022), making a personal fortune in the process.
Yet he was a last minute choice after bigger star names like William Hurt, Kurt Russell, Harrison Ford and Tim Robbins all turned it down.
His character in Jurassic Park was a paleontologist with a particular interest in velociraptorsCredit: AlamyNeill in the 1981 horror flick The Omen IIICredit: Alamy
“It was a warning never to become too big or too expensive,” he said.
“You can lose a lot of good parts in that way. I preferred quiet progress.”
Neill did precisely that throughout his career of over 100 movies in nearly 50 years, in which he would turn up in the most unlikely roles.
It included that of Major Chester Campbell in the first two series of the BBC’s hit series Peaky Blinders.
He was born on September 14th, 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland to New Zealander father Dermot, an army officer, and mother Priscilla, who was English.
Although he was christened Nigel, he later thought the name ‘prissy’ and changed it to Sam in childhood.
His family continued to call him Nigel.
He is survived by actor son Tim (b 1983) whom he had with actress Lisa Harrow, a fellow New Zealander.
The Kiwi was nominated for several awards throughout his careerCredit: AFPThe actor featured in other films such as Red October (1990) and The Piano (1993)Credit: Getty
Despite reports to the contrary, they never married.
He also has daughter Elena (b 1991) with estranged wife Nariko Watanabe, a Japanese make-up artist whom he met on Dead Calm (1989), which was co-star Nicole Kidman’s breakthrough movie.
He had a stepdaughter with Watanabe, Maiko Spencer (b 1982).
Neill spent virtually his entire life travelling, first with his father’s job moves around Ireland and then, when he retired from the army, to New Zealand, aged seven.
His father joined the family brewing wholesale business near far-flung Dunedin, which was Gaelic for Edinburgh and founded in 1848 as a Scottish Free Church settlement.
“I was an outsider from the start there,” he recalled.
“Bullying at school, mocked for my accent, being called names and beaten up – the lot.
“Cowboy films and TV series were very popular at the time, so I called myself Sam to sound like one. It didn’t do much good.”
Sam Neill appeared on The Graham Norton Show to discuss his upcoming projectsCredit: PASam posed with some Jurassic Park merch in a recent Instagram postCredit: instagram / SamNeillTheProp
He was sent away to boarding school in Christchurch, more than 200 miles north along the coast.
“It was even more lonely,” he said.
“I developed a stutter, although I could talk perfectly up to that point.”
He used the experiences and memories when he became an actor, always being prepared to take on new projects wherever they were in the world.
“I had an ability to pretend to be other people – probably because I had to at school,” he told me.
“I never had any great expectations as an actor.”
He started working in television documentaries and in small acting roles.
He was 30 before he appeared in a movie, Sleeping Dogs (1977), an action thriller made in New Zealand.
“That film was a calling card,” he said.
“It was a critical success and that led to some offers, all thousands of miles away. It was a case of either travel or never leave.”
He had arrived in London when we first met in March, 1989, promoting a film called A Cry in the Dark, with Meryl Streep.
It was an alarming real-life Australian story about a baby girl who disappeared from a campsite.
The baby’s mother, Lindy Chamberlain (played by Streep) insisted that a wild dingo dog had taken her baby, but a disbelieving public felt that she was making up a story to cover up murder.
Neill was playing husband Michael Chamberlain.
“It revealed to me the price of being an international star, like Meryl,” he said.
“She was the most famous actress in the world at that point and the sort of stuff she had to put up every day was incredible.
“One was a story about her leaving her husband for Michael Jackson!
“I thought to myself ‘if this is what real stardom means, I don’t want it.’ So I had to be careful. I wanted recognition, but also want privacy and sanity.”
Neill went on to achieve exactly that.
We met several times over the years. He had a calm, down-to-earth manner, unfussy and unflashy, with a dry self-mocking sense of humour.
“I have always been free of ambition – honestly,” he said.
“I realised, early on, that if I started to desperately want things, then I was going to be disappointed.
“There was always someone whose career was going to better and bigger than mine. There was also someone going to get the parts I wanted.
“So I never had a game plan. If I’d had one, I would have moved to Hollywood and committed to a career in films, going to endless meetings and being a ‘personality.’
“Instead, I have never moved my home from New Zealand. I’ve been fortunate in that enough work has come up – and I’ve travelled to do it.
“I had to get used to the biggest jet-lag, the longest time-changes to the body and being away from home. But that’s been worth it.
“Don’t forget that the first time I went to New Zealand in the early 1950’s it took two months by boat and now it’s only 21 hours by plane.”
He was also cautious about being caught in the trap of other well-known actors.
“I don’t know what it is about us that leads us in to more temptation,” he laughed.
“I think we are sometimes over-celebrated and can have far more fame than is comfortable. So when trouble comes, it’s all over the public domain.
“I once went to a pub’ with English actor Warren Clarke, drank non-stop to keep up, blacked out and woke up in bed with a woman I didn’t know.
“The trick is to keep your trousers on and go to bed early. It’s mostly worked for me up to now.”
He seemed to effortlessly glide into some major roles in films like The Hunt for Red October (1990) and The Piano (1993) and TV series The Tudors (2007), Happy Town (2010) and Alcatraz (2012).
There was a certain irony that when playing his unrelentingly tough Northern Ireland police chief in Peaky Blinders, he couldn’t master the accent.
“I was born in Northern Ireland and had the accent as a kid, but had buried it so deep in my mind that I had the greatest difficulty digging it up again.”
He ended up calling his Irish friend Liam Neeson for some tips and delivered the part pitch-perfect.
“I probably over-did it a bit in the end,” he said.
“I love working in Britain. I feel part British, obviously, and the quality of the acting and the film crews are hard to beat anywhere in the world.”
Between each highly-paid role and movie, he would return home to New Zealand and not work, sometimes for months on end, so would simply slip out of the headlines.
On the last occasion we met, he was more interested in talking about his own wine label in New Zealand.
He had used the old family connection with wine to grow his own and set up a company to produce it.
He lived, very happily he said, among wine-making and animals on a ranch in Central Otago, surrounded by mountains and lakes.
Neill announced in his 2023 autobiography Did I Ever Tell You This? (Penguin) that he had been undergoing chemotherapy since March, 2022 for a type of blood cancer.
He had first noticed swollen glands when travelling to promote Jurassic World Dominion.
He had put a hold on his acting work.
“I have been very fortunate to enjoy the best cities in the world – like London, Paris or Rome – and I have never been too jaded to get a kick out of that,” he said.
“But the thing that pleases me more than anything is to sit still at my home, have a quiet glass of red wine and contemplate life.”
Sam Neill has revealed he is cancer-freeCredit: GettySam Neill is best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park
In a new interview, he said he was “on the way out” when his chemotherapy stopped working.
“I was at a loss, and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously,” he explained.
But thanks to pioneering Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, the cost of which, on average, is £280,000 per patient in the UK , there is no longer any trace of the disease in his body.
Sam told 7 News in his native Australia: “I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing. I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”
He first revealed he was having the immunotherapy in September 2023 and had been in remission for 12 months.
The treatment is personalised to the patient and genetically modifies their own T-cells to fight and destroy cancer cells.
The actor said he is now looking forward to returning to the big screen.
Stoic Sam previously said he wasn’t afraid of dying after being diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma — a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“I’m not in any way frightened of dying,” he told Australian Story. “That doesn’t worry me. It’s never worried me from the beginning, but I would be annoyed.”
Sam announced his cancer battle in the first chapter of his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?
He wrote: “The thing is, I’m crook. Possibly dying.”
The acting stalwart, who was born in Northern Ireland but grew up in New Zealand, is best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in the dinosaur franchise, beginning in 1993.
His successful movie and television career spans five decades and includes varied roles from The Piano, to The Zookeeper and even Peaky Blinders.
He has two biological children — Tim and Elena — from his marriage to makeup artist Noriko Watanabe.
The couple were married for nearly 30 years, before divorcing in 2017.
