Sam Neill dies at 78 after storied career

Sam Neill, best known as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise, has died at 78. His family announced his sudden and unexpected death on his Instagram account on Monday, July 13th. Neill was born in Omagh in Northern Ireland on September 14th, 1947, and moved to New Zealand at seven years old. He changed his name to Sam at 11, then became a star in Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. He later returned in Jurassic Park 3 and Jurassic World Dominion, and also starred in films including The Hunt for Red October and The Piano. On TV, he earned praise for Rayleigh, Ace of Spies, Merlin, The Tudors, and Peaky Blinders. In 2024, he starred as retired tennis coach Stan Delaney in Apple's Never Fall. Neill was diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer, in 2022. Neill had announced in April that he was cancer-free after going through a clinical trial in Australia.