SYDNEY, Australia — Actor Sam Neill, best known for portraying Dr. Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, died Monday in Australia at the age of 78, his family announced.
In a statement, Neill’s family described his death as “sudden and unexpected.”
“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” the statement said.
The New Zealand actor revealed in his 2023 memoir that he had been diagnosed with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma and wrote that he was “possibly dying.” Earlier this year, however, he announced that he was cancer-free following genetic therapy that modified his immune system.
His family said he remained free of cancer at the time of his death.
“The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free,” the statement said.
Neill was receiving treatment at St. Vincent’s Private Hospital in Sydney.
His acting career began in the 1970s and spanned film and television, with notable roles in Jurassic Park, The Hunt for Red October, The Piano and Peaky Blinders.
Outside of acting, Neill owned and operated vineyards in New Zealand’s Central Otago region on the South Island.
