Sam Neill’s joyful final appearance with his ‘heroes’ weeks before his death aged 78

Sam Neill lived life to the absolute fullest right until the end, making one of his final public appearances surrounded by his “heroes” at a Sydney event.

The actor, who died aged 78 on Monday following a battle with cancer, shared an Instagram post on June 12 at the ARIA Hall of Fame Awards as he celebrated those who have influenced music culture in Australia.

Alongside a photo of himself beaming at the camera alongside Kate Ceberano, Neill wrote: “Great night in Sydney. Four women I have idolised for decades were honoured.

“Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, and Vika and Linda Bull. Jenny was inducted into the Hall by no less than our former NZ PM, Jacinda Ardern. Another hero.”

“Soooooo very lovely to see you,” Ceberano commented underneath the post.

The beloved Kiwi actor died in a loss his family said was “sudden and unexpected” following a battle with a type of blood cancer.

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Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill dies age 78 surrounded by family

They confirmed the news in a statement on Instagram on Monday.

“It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” it read.

“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.”

Neill was diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in 2022, after experiencing swollen glands while doing publicity for Jurassic World: Dominion.

He only revealed he had been privately battling the disease a year later when he released his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?

At the time, he said he was treated with chemotherapy, which eventually started to fail, before he was offered a lifeline in the form of CAR T-cell therapy.

According to the Leukaemia Foundation, CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that sees CAR T-cells collected from a patient before being sent to a lab where genetic information is added to them that are tailored to recognise cancer.

They are then multiplied and infused back into the body where they recognise, attack and kill cancer cells.

CAR T-cell therapy is currently only approved in Australia for four types of blood cancers following a relapse.

Neill said at the time that he was working to help raise awareness of the treatment that gave him more time, in the hope more Australians would have access to it in future.

Remembering a legend

Neill, whose first name is Nigel, was born in Northern Ireland on September 14, 1947. His family moved to New Zealand when he was eight.

After attending university, he took up acting and appeared in his first film in 1971.

His big break came in the 1979 Aussie film My Brilliant Career before he played Michael Chamberlain in Evil Angels, about the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain.

But it was a turn playing the husband of then little-known Aussie actress Nicole Kidman in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm that opened Hollywood’s doors and led to the role of Dr Alan Grant in the 1983 movie Jurassic Park.

He reprised the role in Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion.

On the small screen, Neill played the malign Chester Campbell in TV’s Peaky Blinders and Thomas Jefferson in the four-hour CBS miniseries, Sally Hemings: an American Tragedy. On Apple TV+, he was on Invasion, playing Oklahoma Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a man late in his career searching for his purpose. In 2024 he starred opposite Annette Bening in the Peacock series Apples Never Fall.

In March 2023, Neill spoke to nine.com.au about his diagnosis and his eagerness to continue working as normal despite his health battle.

“Work is what I do best,” he said. “I’m not really very good at not working, that’s the truth of it.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a very lazy person, and then when I was told I had to be lazy, it was unbearable.

“That’s why I wrote my book, just to pretend to be busy. The book was a kind of life-saver in way. Now I’m back at work and I couldn’t be happier.”

Neill met his first wife, fellow New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow, on the set of 1981 film Omen III. They married in 1981, welcomed a son Tim in 1983, and were together for 11 years before divorcing in 1989.

He wed a second time in 1993, this time to Japanese film make-up artist Noriko Watanabe. Together they had a daughter Elena in 1991 and also adopted a daughter Maiko. Neill and Watanabe were married for nearly 30 years until their split in 2017.

Neill was next romantically linked to ABC political journalist Laura Tingle. The couple were deeply private. What was known about their relationship came from Neill’s memoir, Have I Told You This? The couple split in 2021 with Neill confirming in the memoir, “I am a solitary single man now.”

He was also father to Andrew, who was placed for adoption when Neill was in his early twenties but reunited with his father in 1994.

He was most recently nominated for a Silver Logie for Best Lead Actor in a Drama for The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer.