The “Jurassic Park” actor died on July 13 at 78.

Sam Neill’s cause of death revealed

The “Jurassic Park” actor died on July 13 at 78.

By Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly

Tiffany Kelly is a staff editor at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Wired, GQ, and Ars Technica.

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and Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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July 15, 2026 10:23 p.m. ET

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Sam Neill in 2024. Credit:

John Nacion/Getty

- The cause of death for Sam Neill has been revealed.

- The *Jurassic Park* star died on July 13 at 78.

- The actor died of pneumonia, his representative confirmed to EW. Neill had been “cancer free” since April after a 2022 diagnosis of stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.

Sam Neill’s cause of death has been revealed.

The New Zealand actor, known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the *Jurassic Park* films, died due to pneumonia, according to Philip Grenz, Neill’s longtime representative.

In a lengthy statement shared with * *on Wednesday, Grenz wrote, “As Sam was an intensely private man who loathed a fuss, his family will honor him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date. I’d like to thank those who were truly close to Sam for considering his privacy with the respect he earned and his loved ones need and deserve during this immeasurably difficult time.”

Sam Neill as Alan Grant in ‘Jurassic Park’. Amblin/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Grenz also noted that Neill “had filmed four projects back-to-back during the past year, all of which will be released within the coming months.” Indeed, Neill completed filming *The Last Resort*, a romantic comedy from *Miss Congeniality** *director Donald Petrie, costarring Daisy Ridley and Alden Ehrenreich. He is also set to appear in the star-studded ensemble of *Godzilla x Kong: Supernova*.

“For those who wish to honor Sam’s memory, in lieu of flowers his whañau (a Māori word for ‘family’), ask that donations be made to one of the causes he cared about most deeply,” Grenz continued.

Those causes include The Dunstan Hospital Foundation, The Snowdome Foundation, or any “NZ charity or fund that supports the sustainability, protection and preservation of New Zealand’s wildlife, native bush and land, such as the NZ Nature Fund and Sustainable Tarras.”

Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’.

Paramount Pictures

Neill’s “sudden and unexpected” death at 78 was announced on July 13 by his family in an Instagram post, which said that the actor was “cancer free” after a 2022 diagnosis of stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a form of blood cancer.

In April, three months before his death, Neill shared that he was free of cancer after undergoing chemotherapy treatment and CAR T-cell therapy.

“I’ve had a scan just now, and there is no cancer in my body. This is an extraordinary thing,” Neill said during an interview with the Australian program *7NEWS*.

Sam Neill was beaming at his last public appearance a month before his death

Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman, Cillian Murphy, and more stars react to Sam Neill’s death: ‘One of the greats’

Neill was best known for his starring role in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur adventure film, alongside Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum. He reprised his role in 2001’s *Jurassic Park III* and 2022’s *Jurassic World: Dominion*. He also starred in films like *Event Horizon*, *Possession,* *The Piano*, and *Hunt for the Wilderpeople, *and appeared on several TV shows, including *The Tudors* and *Peaky Blinders*.

During his career, the actor received two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe nominations. At the Australian Logie Awards in 2025, he won Best Lead Actor in a Drama for his role on the TV series *The Twelve*.

Sam Neill at the 2025 AACTA Awards.

Chris Hyde/Getty

In 2023, he published a memoir, *Did I Ever Tell You This?*, which he wrote while undergoing cancer treatment.

Neill married hair and makeup artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989, with whom he had one daughter. The couple separated in 2007. He is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.

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