Sam Neill: New Zealand actor Sam Neill has died of pneumonia, his agent has confirmed.

New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who died in a Sydney hospital on Monday, died of pneumonia, his agent has confirmed.

The family of the 78-year-old, best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders, described his death earlier this week as “sudden and unexpected”.

Neill’s longtime agent Philip Grenz released a statement on Thursday about the cause of death after speaking to the actor’s family and citing “inaccuracies and outright lies” in the media.

In April this year, Neil announced he was in remission after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – a type of blood cancer – years ago. His family said at the time of his death that he had been “cancer free”.

“As Sam Neill’s longtime representative, I spoke with the family and would like to clarify some details for the fans,” Grenz said.

“Sam died of pneumonia. Sam fought valiantly before he got sick and beat his lymphoma with a new treatment called CAR-T therapy.”

In the past year, Neal has “four projects behind him … all of which will be released in the coming months,” Grenz said.

Born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand, Neil was “a very private person who hated noise,” says Grenz.

It added that Neil’s family “will hold a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a time yet to be determined.”

“I want to thank those who were truly close to Sam for the honor he received and for thinking of what his loved ones need and deserve during this difficult time,” Grenz said.

News of Neill’s death has seen tributes pour in from other actors, politicians and fans, with Jurassic Park co-star Laura Dern describing him as “my dearest lifelong friend”.

Australian actor Toni Collette called him a “hero”, “legend” and “dear”, while New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was “one of the greats”.

Neil played Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and has also appeared in films including The Piano, The Hunt for Red October, Dead Calm and Event Horizon, as well as the BBC TV drama Peaky Blinders.

In a career spanning more than five decades, Neil has amassed more than 150 screen credits.

His last film appearance came in Fox (2025) and his last TV appearance came in the Netflix series Untamed (2025). In the year He is expected to make a posthumous appearance in 2027’s Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort.

In the year On the 2023 note, did I tell you this? , showed details about cancer diagnosis and treatment.

“I’m not afraid to die.” He told the BBC at the time.. “What I don’t want to do is stop living, because I enjoy living so much.”

He added: “I considered it an adventure, a very dark adventure, but an adventure.

Neil is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.