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New Zealand actor Sam Neill, famous for the film ‘Jurassic Park’, has died due to pneumonia. He died on Monday at the age of 78. He breathed his last in a hospital in Sydney. At that time his family did not reveal the cause of death.
According to BBC report, his agent Philip Grange issued a statement on Thursday saying that Sam Neill died due to pneumonia. The agent has clarified this information after the wrong news going on in the media regarding his death.
Sam Neill was suffering from blood cancer for a long time, but after treatment he became completely cancer free. When he died, there was no cancer in his body.
Said- not afraid of death Sam Neill in his book ‘Did I Ever Tell You This?’, released in the year 2023. I had mentioned my illness and the days of treatment. Talking about cancer, he told BBC that he is not afraid of death, but he does not want to stop living because he loves life very much.
Who was Sam Neill?
Sam Neill was one of New Zealand’s most famous actors. His full name was Nigel John Dermot “Sam” Neill. He was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland. When he was young, his family moved to New Zealand, where he was raised.
Sam Neill began acting in the 1970s. His first major recognition came from the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs. After this, 1979’s My Brilliant Career brought him international recognition. In the 1980s and 1990s, he made his own place in Hollywood. Sam Neill was one of the artists who brought Australian cinema to worldwide recognition in the late 1970s. His film career spanned more than five decades and he won the hearts of millions of people with his brilliant acting.
‘Jurassic Park’ made him a superstar
Jurassic Park, released in 1993, proved to be the biggest film of Sam Neill’s career. In this he played the role of a paleontologist (dinosaur expert) named Dr. Alan Grant. This role became so popular that he later played the same character in Jurassic Park 3 (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).
Got recognition from these films also
Apart from ‘Jurassic Park’, Sam Neill worked in many memorable films. Prominent among these are-
The Piano (1993) (Oscar Winner)
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Dead Work (1989)
The Omen 3: The Final Conflict (1981)
Possession (1981)
Event Horizon (1997)
Apart from films, he also acted strongly in TV series like Peaky Blinders, The Tudors, Merlin and Invasion.
Had defeated blood cancer
In 2023, Sam Neill revealed that he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer. He underwent chemotherapy and later CAR-T cell therapy. After treatment, he became cancer-free and spoke openly about his disease to raise awareness among people.
Apart from films, he owned a vineyard.
Sam Neill was not only an actor, but also ran his own vineyard named Two Paddock in New Zealand. He was very fond of farming, animals and nature. He often shared pictures and videos of his farm and the animals there on social media.
Two relationships and four children
In the 1980s, he met actress Lisa Haro. Both lived together for some time and had a son.
In 1989, Sam Neill married makeup artist Noriko Watanabi. He had a daughter from this marriage. He also adopted Noriko’s daughter from his first marriage as his own.
In his early years, Sam Neill became the father of another son, who was given up for adoption after birth. In 1994, he met his son again after many years.
Sam Neill was blessed with 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
