Screen icon Sam Neill has died today in Sydney, Australia. The news was confirmed via a statement published on Neill’s Instagram on Monday, July 13 2026. He was 78.
“It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” reads the post. “Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised 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.”
Born in Northern Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand-born father, Neill and his family moved to the South Island of New Zealand in the mid-1950s, settling in Christchurch.
Neill’s entertainment career began in New Zealand, initially culminating in a role in the 1977 action thriller Sleeping Dogs, directed by Roger Donaldson. The film was a significant success and launched Neill’s international career.
Neill then headed to Australia, where he would receive further international exposure via award-winning 1979 Australian period drama My Brilliant Career, which he starred in alongside Judy Davis.
In 1981 Neill played the adult Damien Thorn, son of the Devil, in Omen III: The Final Conflict, and had roles in a string of Australian films throughout the ’80s, including Attack Force Z alongside Mel Gibson, Dead Calm alongside Nicole Kidman, and many more.
In 1993, Neill made himself a household name as Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Jurassic Park, a role he reprised twice, in 2001’s Jurassic Park III and 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion.
Neill continued to demonstrate his immense versatility over the next three decades, equally adept at handling the sci-fi horror of 1997’s Event Horizon as he was the dry humour of something like 2000 comedy-drama The Dish. Other highlights from Neill’s long career include The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), Dirty Deeds (2002), Daybreakers (2009), The Hunter (2011), and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). He also appeared in a long list of TV shows, including The Tudors and Peaky Blinders.
In 2023, Neill revealed that he had been diagnosed with a type of blood cancer, and had been privately undergoing chemotherapy for a year. In April 2026, he shared an update that he had recently undergone a new form of immunotherapy treatment, and subsequently was informed that scans no longer detected cancer in his body.
Neill is set to make one of his final film appearances in 2027’s Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which is currently in post-production.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/sam-neill-dies-at-78