“Jurassic Park” star Sam Neill died of pneumonia, a representative confirmed on Thursday.
The actor, who was 78 when he died on Sunday in Sydney, will be honored in a private family memorial on his farm in New Zealand at a “later date,” his agent, Philip Grenz, told Page Six.
“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.”
Grenz said he disclosed details about Neill’s cause of death after consulting with the actor’s family and following news reports “which contain inaccuracies and outright falsehoods.”
He added that Neill had completed four projects “back-to-back” over the past year that are expected to be released in the coming months.
“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,” Grenz said.
“I’d like to thank those who were truly close to Sam for considering his privacy with the respect he earned and his loved ones need and deserve during this immeasurably difficult time,” he added.
The actor’s former “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” co-star Rima Te Wiata said this week that Neill had been battling pneumonia before he died.
“It really sucks, actually,” Te Wiata told the New Zealand Herald. “I think he would be like: ‘For goodness sake, I got over my cancer. And now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?’”
“He’s on his big journey now,” she added.
While Neill was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, his family clarified that he was “cancer-free” at the time of his death.
Neill’s loved ones, who called the “immeasurable” loss “sudden” and “unexpected,” wrote that he was “surrounded by family” and went “with dignity.”
Three months ago, the Golden Globe nominee revealed his recovery from angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
“I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing,” he told Australian network 7News in April.
Neill quipped, “It’s time I did another movie.”
The “Peaky Blinders” alum amassed more than 150 roles during his illustrious career, and many of his former co-stars spoke out after his death.
“He was one of the greats,” Nicole Kidman, who acted alongside Neill in “Dead Calm” in 1989, gushed. “A joy to be around.”
The actress, 59, added, “We met when I was just 18, and he took me under his wing and we stayed friends for life. He was charming, kind, funny, and intelligent.”
“He will be greatly missed, and my heart goes out to his family,” the “Big Little Lies” alum added.
As for Neill’s love interest in “Jurassic Park” in 1993, Laura Dern similarly called him a “beloved lifetime friend” in a statement to Page Six.
“He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of with,” Dern, 59, shared with us.
After calling Neill a “true and noble gentleman” who was “wrapped up in [her] dream leading man,” she referenced his character by concluding, “I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.”
“Peaky Blinders” star Cillian Murphy, for his part, told Page Six that he “admired and adored [Neill] in equal measure.”
Neill is survived by four children, including a son he put up for adoption and reunited with 25 years later.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source pagesix.com ’
