Jurassic Park star Sam Neill died in Australia on Monday, July 13, his family announced. Neill was several months in remission after battling a rare and aggressive type of blood cancer. He was 78.
“It is with immense sadness that the [family] of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” the statement on Instagram read.
“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”
In March 2023, Neill announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in March 2022. He had undergone chemotherapy and his cancer was in remission, but he would require monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life.
In April 2026, Neill said that the chemotherapy had stopped working. He underwent CAR T-cell therapy as part of an Australian clinical trial. Neill said recent scans showed no cancer anywhere in his body.
“I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing,” he said. “I’m very, very excited that this can happen. It’s time I did another movie.”
Neill advocated for expanding access to CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer patients in Australia and Ireland.
The actor was best known for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in 1993’s “Jurassic Park.” He would reprise the role in “Jurassic Park III” in 2001 and “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.
He had more than 150 acting credits in his 50-year career.