Actor Sir Sam Neill, famed for his leading role in Steven Spielberg's dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic Park, has died aged 78.
Born in Omagh, Neill moved to New Zealand with his family when he was seven.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Sir Sam "started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of".
"For more than fifty years, he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today – one of our greatest cultural exports," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The first film I remember seeing Neill star in was Omen III: The Final Conflict. He played Damien Thorn, son of the devil. During an illustrious career, he auditioned for the role of James Bond and later starred in Peaky Blinders.
In a statement to Variety, Spielberg paid tribute to Neill.
"I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.
“Sam was exceptionally collaborative,” the Jurassic Park director said. “It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children.”
Spielberg concluded his statement by saying, “I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
To this lifelong Spielberg fan, Neill will always be fondly remembered as Dr Alan Grant!
