<\/p>\n
Sam Neill made his final public appearance at the ARIA Hall of Fame Awards in Sydney in June.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
The actor died at 78 on Monday, his family shared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Neill is best known for starring as Alan Grant in Jurassic Park<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Sam Neill <\/a>was beaming at his final public appearance in June, a month before his death<\/a>.<\/p>\n Weeks before his \u201csudden and unexpected\u201d death at 78 on Monday, the Jurassic Park<\/em><\/a>star shared photos from the 2026 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame Awards in Sydney.<\/p>\n \u201cARIA HALL of FAME awards ! Great night in Sydney,\u201d Neill wrote on Instagram<\/a> alongside photos on June 11. \u201cFour women I have idolised for decades were honoured . JENNY MORRIS , KATE CEBERANO , and VIKA and LINDA BULL. Jenny was inducted the Hall by no less than our former NZ PM , JACINDA ARDERN . Another hero.\u201d<\/p>\n In a selfie, Neill smiled next to ARIA honoree, Australian singer and actress Kate Ceberano, as they stood under theater lights at venue Carriageworks.<\/p>\n \u201cSoooooo very lovely to see you \u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f\u2764\ufe0f,\u201d Ceberano commented at the time.<\/p>\n Neill also shared behind-the-scenes photos of Australian music duo Vika and Linda Bull, New Zealand singer-songwriter Jenny Morris, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.<\/p>\n Neill\u2019s family announced the \u201cunexpected\u201d news of his death<\/a> on Instagram early Monday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is with immense sadness that the wh\u0101nau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,\u201d the post began.<\/p>\n \u201cSam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cThe loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent\u2019s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.\u201d<\/p>\n Neill was diagnosed<\/a> with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer, in 2022. He announced he was cancer-free<\/a> in April 2026 after successful CAR-T cell therapy.<\/p>\n During an appearance on Australian Broadcasting Corporation\u2019s Australian Story<\/em><\/a> in 2023, the actor said, \u201cI\u2019m not, in any way, frightened of dying. It\u2019s never worried me from the beginning. But I would be annoyed because there are things I still want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with\u00a0our\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>EW Dispatch newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Neill was best known for starring as Alan Grant in Jurassic Park<\/em>, and for films like Possession<\/em>, Merlin<\/em>, Dead Calm<\/em>, and Wimbledon<\/em>.<\/p>\n His final film roles are the yet-to-be-released The Last Resort <\/em>alongside Daisy Ridley and Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.<\/em><\/p>\n Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n