Actor Sam Neill dies at 78, family confirms

Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor known for Jurassic Park and The Piano, has died at 78. His family announced his death was 'sudden and unexpected' in a statement posted to his social media. Neill had disclosed in 2023 that he was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but was 'cancer free' at the time of death. He died on Monday in Sydney, surrounded by family. No cause of death was given. Neill's career spanned art films and blockbusters, including roles in Omen III: The Final Conflict as Damien the Antichrist and The Tudors as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He was part of a wave of Australian and New Zealand actors who gained international fame from the late 1970s, alongside figures like Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe, and Jane Campion.