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Actor Sam Neill died from pneumonia and will be honoured at a private family memorial at his New Zealand farm later, his agent told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Neill’s family had earlier announced the actor known for Jurassic Park, The Piano and other films died Monday in Sydney, aged 78.
His agent Philip Grenz said he was providing more information after speaking with Neill’s family and following news reports “which contain inaccuracies and outright falsehoods,” he said.
“Sam passed away from pneumonia,” Grenz said. “Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy.”
He added that Neill had filmed four projects “back-to-back” during the past year that are due to be released in the coming months.
“As Sam was an intensely private man who loathed a fuss, his family will honour him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date,” Grenz said.
The New Zealand actor disclosed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and said in April this year that he was cancer-free. CAR-T therapy is a form of immunotherapy based on an individual’s T cells and is used for several types of blood cancer.
His agent’s statement followed days of tributes to Neill from film industry colleagues who remembered him as a kind, witty and curious man.
“You are so loved and will be sorely missed by us all,” director Taika Waititi, who directed Neill in 2016’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.
Sam Neill, the actor arguably best known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, died on July 13 in Sydney. The cause of death of the 78-year-old New Zealander is still being determined. Neill was mostly known for smaller art films before making the jump to Hollywood blockbusters like Jurassic Park, where he worked with director Steven Spielberg, someone he described as ‘undervalued as an actor’s director.’
“Love you and see you soon, sweet Nigel,” Waititi wrote, referring to Neill’s birth name, which he told interviewers he had changed to Sam at school because there were too many Nigels in his class.
“Sam was exceptionally collaborative,” said Steven Spielberg, who helmed the first Jurassic Park movie, in which Neill played paleontologist Alan Grant, alongside Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.
“We will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world,” Spielberg said in a statement.
Neill was one of a host of actors and directors who achieved international fame after an explosion of Australian films that began in the late 1970s. In addition to a host of Australian and New Zealand industry accolades, Neill was nominated for three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe awards in his career.
Neill also worked on a handful of productions in Canada during his career, as recently as 2024 in British Columbia for the Netflix series Untamed starring Eric Bana.
In New Zealand, he has been mourned as a friendly, unassuming person who shunned celebrity and contributed to causes and community projects near his home, according to local news outlets.
Neill was also a vintner and under his Two Paddocks brand, he produced pinot noir and riesling wines from his winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island.
Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
