Remembering Sam Neill (1947- 2026)
Like most people I remember first seeing Sam Neill in Jurassic Park. The charismatic and practical Dr. Grant, frightened children with his creepy dinosaur hands. Dr. Grant very clearly despises the very idea of children and that’s exactly why he’s put into the position to take two to safety. While there are plenty of fantastic actors in Jurassic Park, including Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough, Neill is the sole of the franchise. When Universal continued to make Jurassic Park movies, they would continuously bring Neill back again and again. It’s because those movies were never the same without him.
Neill passed away on Monday, July 13th, in Sydney, Australia. He was 78 years old. While Neill has been battling cancer for the last few years; he was cancer free at his death. That made the news this morning all the more surprising.
From Instagram:
"It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. 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. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care.
More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss."
Sam Neill appeared in over 50 films in his career and was certainly one of the most well known actors from New Zealand. Even though Jurassic Park would be the first time I’d watch a Sam Neill movie, I’d always look forward to watching another one of his features. He first came to the attention of international audiences with his role in My Brilliant Career. Neill plays the romantic foil in this one. I specifically say foil, because the film is really about Judy Davis’ character and her refusal to be tied down to any man. Since discovering it a few years back, I’ve also been fond of My Brilliant Career and seeing a different side of Neill. Perhaps not surprisingly, Neill had countless intriguing roles in his career that showed the full range of his acting prowess.
He appeared in a cult classic horror movie Possession, opposite Isabelle Adjani. He was also investigating the disappearance of a hit novelist in John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness. There was The Hunt for Red October and Event Horizon. And plenty more. Even if he had stopped there that would be enough to cement his place in movie history, but he had a great final act as well appearing in the hit series, Peaky Blinders, and a terrific performance in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. He will certainly be missed.
I’ve compiled a list of where you can stream Sam Neill’s movies. The movies without a listing are not available to stream, but remain available to rent.
- Jurassic Park (1993) — Netflix, Peacock
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) — Peacock
- Jurassic Park III (2001) — Peacock
- Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) — Peacock
- The Piano (1993) — Netflix (rent/buy on Prime Video, Apple TV)
- A Cry in the Dark / Evil Angels (1988)
- My Brilliant Career (1979)
- The Hunt for Red October (1990) — Peacock, Paramount+, Netflix, Hulu
- Dead Calm (1989)
- Escape Plan (2013)
- Event Horizon (1997) — Netflix, Tubi (free with ads), Paramount+
- In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
- Peter Rabbit (2018) — Paramount+, Netflix
- Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021) — Netflix
- Bicentennial Man (1999) — Tubi (free with ads), Disney+
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017) — Disney+
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) — Netflix, Prime Video, Pluto TV (free with ads)
- Sleeping Dogs (1977)
- The Dish (2000)
- Rams (2020)
- Death in Brunswick (1990)
Some other tributes the actor you might want to check out:
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