Sam Neill, the star of Jurassic Park, died from pneumonia, his agent has said.
The New Zealand actor, who was best known for playing Dr Alan Grant in the dinosaur franchise, died unexpectedly in Sydney, Australia, on Monday. He was 78.
His agent Philip Grenz said he was confirming the cause of death after speaking with Neill's family, following news reports that contain "inaccuracies and outright falsehoods."
"Sam passed away from pneumonia," Grenz said. "Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy. 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."
Neill's family had said in an earlier statement that the loss was "sudden and unexpected," but "blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer-free."
In 2023, Neill announced he had "a ferocious type of aggressive" non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He said in April this year that he was cancer-free after undergoing treatment.
Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. He was born Nigel Neill, but adopted the name Sam because there were too many Nigels at his school. Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Neill's Jurassic Park costars, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, led tributes to the Hollywood veteran in the wake of his death.
Dern described him as...
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