WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Hollywood stars paid tribute to Sam Neill on Tuesday after the “Jurassic Park” actor died unexpectedly at age 78, as a former co-star revealed he had recently battled pneumonia.
Neill died in Australia on Monday, with his family describing his death as “sudden and unexpected.” They said the New Zealand actor had been treated for lymphoma in recent years but was cancer-free at the time of his death.
Actor Rima Te Wiata, who appeared with Neill in the film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, said he had recovered from cancer but later developed pneumonia.
“I think he would be like: ‘For goodness sake, I got over my cancer. And now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?'” she told the New Zealand Herald.
Te Wiata did not provide further details about Neill’s illness.
Director Steven Spielberg, who worked with Neill on Jurassic Park, led tributes from the film industry.
“I adored making all the ‘Jurassic’ movies with him,” Spielberg said. “Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Co-stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum also honored Neill, with Dern calling him a “true and noble gentleman” and Goldblum saying his “next great adventure begins.”
Nicole Kidman described Neill as “one of the greats,” while Peaky Blinders actor Cillian Murphy remembered him as “one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people.”
Born in Northern Ireland in 1947, Neill moved to New Zealand as a child and began acting in the early 1970s. He rose to international fame as Dr. Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park and later appeared in films including The Hunt for Red October, The Piano and the television series Peaky Blinders. Away from acting, he operated vineyards in New Zealand’s Central Otago region.
