Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill ( September 1947 – July 2026) was a New Zealand actor. Known as a leading man in numerous roles in film and television, he first achieved recognition with his appearance in the film.
Sleeping Dogs (1977),
A host of other films followed-
My Brilliant Career (1979).
The Final Conflict (1981),
Possession (1981)
Evil Angels (1988),
Dead Calm (1989),
Death in Brunswick (1990),
The Hunt for Red October (1990),
Until the End of the World (1991),
The Piano (1993),
In the Mouth of Madness (1994),
Event Horizon (1997),
The Dish (2000)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016).
He came to international prominence as Dr Alan Grant in
Jurassic Park (1993),
Jurassic Park III (2001) and
Jurassic World Dominion (2022).
On television, he portrayed Merlin in the miniseries Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), the former of which earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award. He was also Golden Globe-nominated for playing historic spy Sidney Reilly in Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983)
a British officer during World War II in One Against the Wind (1991).
He played Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors (2007) and
Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders (2013–2014).
He was also known for narrating various documentary projects.
He received numerous awards for his acting, and received nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours for services as an actor.
Early life and Education
Nigel John Dermot Neill was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to an English mother, Priscilla Beatrice Ingham, and a New Zealand father, Dermot Neill. As a result, he held three documented citizenships: Irish, British and New Zealand. His great-grandfather, Percival "Percy" Neill, the son of a wine merchant who imported wine from France, had left Belfast for Australia where he joined a firm of merchants in Melbourne, eventually moving to New Zealand and settling in Dunedin in 1863. At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving as an officer with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.His father's family owned Neill and Co., later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill.[8][9] Neill spent part of his early childhood in Armagh, which he later described as "idyllic", stating that he grew up in County Armagh before the Troubles and regarded it as his "Garden of Eden".
In 1954, the Neill family moved to New Zealand and settled in the Christchurch suburb of Cashmere. Neill attended Cashmere Primary School and Medbury School, a private preparatory school. After a year, his parents and younger sister, Juliet, moved south to his father's home city of Dunedin.
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill ( September 1947 – July 2026) was a New Zealand actor. Known as a leading man in numerous roles in film and television, he first achieved recognition with his appearance in the film.
Sleeping Dogs (1977),
A host of other films followed-
My Brilliant Career (1979).
The Final Conflict (1981),
Possession (1981)
Evil Angels (1988),
Dead Calm (1989),
Death in Brunswick (1990),
The Hunt for Red October (1990),
Until the End of the World (1991),
The Piano (1993),
In the Mouth of Madness (1994),
Event Horizon (1997),
The Dish (2000)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016).
He came to international prominence as Dr Alan Grant in
Jurassic Park (1993),
Jurassic Park III (2001) and
Jurassic World Dominion (2022).
On television, he portrayed Merlin in the miniseries Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), the former of which earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award. He was also Golden Globe-nominated for playing historic spy Sidney Reilly in Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983)
a British officer during World War II in One Against the Wind (1991).
He played Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors (2007) and
Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders (2013–2014).
He was also known for narrating various documentary projects.
He received numerous awards for his acting, and received nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours for services as an actor.
Early life and Education
Nigel John Dermot Neill was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to an English mother, Priscilla Beatrice Ingham, and a New Zealand father, Dermot Neill. As a result, he held three documented citizenships: Irish, British and New Zealand. His great-grandfather, Percival "Percy" Neill, the son of a wine merchant who imported wine from France, had left Belfast for Australia where he joined a firm of merchants in Melbourne, eventually moving to New Zealand and settling in Dunedin in 1863. At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving as an officer with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.His father's family owned Neill and Co., later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill.[8][9] Neill spent part of his early childhood in Armagh, which he later described as "idyllic", stating that he grew up in County Armagh before the Troubles and regarded it as his "Garden of Eden".
In 1954, the Neill family moved to New Zealand and settled in the Christchurch suburb of Cashmere. Neill attended Cashmere Primary School and Medbury School, a private preparatory school. After a year, his parents and younger sister, Juliet, moved south to his father's home city of Dunedin.
