Sam Neill, the beloved Jurassic Park star, died at age 78 from pneumonia, his representatives confirmed. Philip Grenz, Neill's manager, told TMZ that the actor had undergone a new treatment called CAR-T therapy to 'valiantly' tackle his lymphoma.
Cancer-Free Before Sudden Death
Just months before his death, Neill had declared he was 'cancer-free.' His family announced that 'the loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free.' Neill had been diagnosed with stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma, four years ago, and shared his diagnosis publicly in March 2023.
His Hunt for the Wilderpeople co-star Rima Te Waita confirmed the pneumonia cause to the New Zealand Herald. She said Neill would likely have been 'annoyed' by death rather than afraid, adding that 'it really sucks, actually.' On the Ryan Bridge Today Show, she added: 'I think he would be like: "For goodness sake, I got over my cancer. And now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?"'
Tributes from Co-Stars and Directors
Neill's ex-girlfriend, Laura Tingle, shared on ABC Radio Sydney that he had been 'pretty sick' for the last few weeks. 'Everybody who loved him has been willing him on from near and far, but I think it was just a bit too much to recover from one more time,' she said. 'He'd had a lot of chemo and a lot of immunotherapy and, thankfully, it finally cleared him of the blood cancer that he had, but that left him pretty compromised in terms of his immune system.'
Cillian Murphy paid tribute via Deadline: 'Like everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people and one of the finest actors. RIP.' Steven Spielberg told Variety: 'Sam was exceptionally collaborative... I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with 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.' Laura Dern called him her 'beloved lifetime friend' and a 'true, noble gentleman.'
Private Ceremony and Charity Donations
Grenz said a private ceremony for family and friends will be held at Neill's New Zealand farm, with no public memorial planned, as Neill 'never wanted a big fuss to be made about him in life.' Fans are urged to donate to the Dunstan Hospital Foundation, The Snowdome Foundation, or New Zealand wildlife charities. Neill's extensive career included roles in The Piano, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, and Event Horizon, but he is best remembered as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise.
