People
Sam Neill
Acting · follow into films and chains
Biography
Sir Nigel John Dermot 'Sam' Neill (September 14, 1947 – July 13, 2026) was a New Zealand actor. His career included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an 'international leading man', he is regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation. Born in Northern Ireland to an English mother and New Zealand father, Neill moved to Christchurch with his family in 1954. He first achieved recognition with his appearance in the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), which he followed with leading roles in My Brilliant Career (1979), Omen III: The Final Conflict, Possession (both 1981), Evil Angels (1988), Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), and In the Mouth of Madness (1994). He came to international prominence as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), reprising the role in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Dominion (2022). Outside of film, Neill appeared in numerous television series in guest and recurring roles, including Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983), The Simpsons (1994), The Tudors (2007), Crusoe (2008–2010), Happy Town (2010), Alcatraz (2012), and Rick and Morty (2019). He also starred as the titular character in Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), and as Major Chester Campbell in the first two series of Peaky Blinders (2013–2014). He has presented and narrated several documentaries. Neill received the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Longford Lyell Award, the New Zealand Film Award, and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. He also had three Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy nominations. He won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor at the 2023 Logies. Neill passed away at age 78 on 13 July 2026, in Sydney, Australia. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that he remained cancer free. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sam Neill, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
Double Trouble
From the Academy's rare double nods to the performances that earned them, this chain celebrates actors who competed against themselves in a single awards season...
8 films
Small Craft Warnings
From the open sea to a leaky skiff, these eight films use small boats as vessels for self-discovery, each one a different kind of voyage.
8 films
The Hypnotic Gaze
From Woody Allen's comic hypnosis to the chilling mechanics of control, this chain traces cinema's fascination with the mind's susceptibility.
8 films
Moana and the Sea as Mirror and Crucible
Taking the core premise of Moana (the ocean as a living force that tests, transforms, and reveals who you are) and steering it into far darker territory, this c...
8 films
The Architecture of Obsession: Cinema of the Fixated Mind
Eight films in which a character's consuming fixation drives the narrative, examined through the directorial techniques that externalise interiority: subjective...
8 films
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Related people
Collaborators & neighbours
Acted
Apples Never Fall
2024 · Stan Delaney
Thor: Love and Thunder
2022 · Actor Odin
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
2021 · Tommy Brock (voice)
Peter Rabbit
2018 · Mr. McGregor / Tommy Brock (voice)
The Commuter
2018 · Captain Hawthorne
Thor: Ragnarok
2017 · Actor Odin
New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands
2016 · Narrator (voice)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
2016 · Hec
And Then There Were None
2015 · General John MacArthur
The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box
2013 · Otto Luger
Escape Plan
2013 · Dr. Kyrie
Daybreakers
2010 · Charles Bromley
In Her Skin
2009 · Mr. Reid
Irresistible
2006 · Craig
Yes
2005 · Anthony
To the Ends of the Earth
2005 · Mr. Prettiman
Wimbledon
2004 · Dennis Bradbury
Bicentennial Man
1999 · Sir
Merlin
1998 · Merlin
Event Horizon
1997 · Weir
In the Mouth of Madness
1995 · John Trent
The Jungle Book
1994 · Colonel Geofferey Brydon
Jurassic Park
1993 · Grant
The Piano
1993 · Alisdair Stewart
Family Pictures
1993 · David Eberlin
Memoirs of an Invisible Man
1992 · David Jenkins
The Hunt for Red October
1990 · Capt. 2nd Vasily Borodin
Dead Calm
1989 · John Ingram
Kane & Abel
1985 · William Lowell Kane
Reilly: Ace of Spies
1983 · Sidney Reilly
Attack Force Z
1982 · Sergeant Costello
Possession
1981 · Mark
The Final Conflict
1981 · Damien Thorn