Sam Neill had been battling pneumonia in the lead-up to his sudden death on Monday at the age of 78.
Rima Te Wiata, his friend and Hunt For The Wilderpeople co-star, said the Jurassic Park actor would likely have been “annoyed” to fall ill again after recently becoming cancer-free following a lengthy fight with the disease.
“It really sucks, actually. As he said in the press once, he’s not scared of death but he would be annoyed,” Te Wiata told journalist Ryan Bridge in New Zealand on Tuesday.
She added that Neill might have reacted by saying: “Oh for goodness’ sake, I just got over my cancer and now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?” before noting, “But he’s on his big journey now.”
His former partner, ABC political journalist Laura Tingle, also said Neill had been “pretty sick” in the weeks before his death.
“His poor old body just sort of got a bit exhausted,” she told ABC Radio Sydney.
Sam Neill had been suffering from pneumonia before his sudden death on Monday at the age of 78
“He’s been pretty sick for the last couple of weeks, and everybody who loved him has been willing him on from near and far, but I think it was just a bit too much to recover from one more time,” Tingle said.
‘He’d had a lot of chemo and a lot of immunotherapy and, thankfully, it finally cleared him of the blood cancer that he had, but that left him pretty compromised in terms of his immune system.’
On Monday, Neill’s family described his death as ‘sudden and unexpected’ as they announced the news in a statement published on his Instagram page.
‘It is with immense sadness that the whānau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13 July, in Sydney, Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,’ they said.
‘The 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’s 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.’
The actor was diagnosed with blood cancer – stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma – in 2022.
But after years of chemotherapy, when it briefly looked like he was ‘on the way out,’ he was thrown a lifeline in the form of CAR T‑cell therapy – a cutting‑edge treatment that genetically re‑engineers a patient’s own immune cells to hunt down cancer.
His former girlfriend, ABC political journalist Laura Tingle, revealed Neill had been ‘pretty sick’ during the weeks prior to his death
‘He’d had a lot of chemo and a lot of immunotherapy and, thankfully, it finally cleared him of the blood cancer that he had, but that left him pretty compromised in terms of his immune system,’ she said.
Tests in April confirmed there was no cancer left in his body, and Neill spoke about the news with genuine delight, calling it ‘an extraordinary thing’ and admitting he was ‘very, very excited that this can happen.’
On Monday, hours after news of Neill’s death, Tingle, 65, shared a heartbreaking tribute to the man she still called a friend.
‘Sweet dreams, darling Sam,’ she wrote in her caption on Instagram, alongside a carousel of unseen images and videos of the couple during their very private relationship.
Set to the 2014 song Long Time Comin’, from American blues-country singer John Hiatt, the collection of photos showed the pair cuddled up on a boat trip and enjoying beach dates.
Tingle also documented the more domestic moments in their union, with Neill abandoning all Hollywood pretence as he ironed his own laundry and cooked his own meals.
Dinner dates, road trips and visits to his New Zealand winery were also depicted, as was his love of animals, as he was shown cuddling chickens, a cat and pet pig.
Evenings at the theatre, overseas vacations and precious time with family were likewise documented.
They played music together, with Sam on guitar and forever wearing a cheeky smile as he lived life to the fullest.
On Monday, hours after news of Neill’s death, Tingle, 65, shared a heartbreaking tribute to the man she still called a friend
The pair enjoyed a variety of social occasions, from eventful nights out on the town to a few quiet beers with fellow acting legend Bryan Brown.
The ABC journalist and the Hollywood star had met through mutual friends and shared a romance between 2018 and 2021, before parting ways amicably.
Neill was very private about his surprising relationship with the political correspondent, but once quipped that Laura was enjoying the spoils of his private vineyard.
‘My guess is that I’m in it for the politics; she’s in it for the wine,’ he said.
Neill confirmed the split in 2023.
‘I had three wonderful years with Laura Tingle, and I am so grateful for that,’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
‘I am a solitary single man now, and I wonder if that’s a personal failing or just bad luck. I am past my use-by date and would not marry again.
‘These days I’m lucky if I go on the odd date. That suits me well, but it’s also a bit lonely. There were times last year that I could have done with a bit of companionship to see me through my blood-cancer treatment.’
The pair enjoyed a variety of social occasions, from eventful nights out on the town to a few quiet beers with fellow acting legend Bryan Brown (left)
Neill said that writing his 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, had caused him to, ‘reflect on how much gratitude I have for people like my mother, and the women who’ve been good to me. And some of that is not without regrets.’
Neill was first married to New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow in 1981.
The couple’s divorce was finalised by 1989, and that same year, he married his second wife, Japanese makeup artist Noriko Watanabe. The pair divorced in 2017.
Neill starred in three Jurassic Park films including the original in 1993, Jurassic Park III in 2001 and Jurassic World Dominion in 2022.
He became a household name after playing palaeontologist Alan Grant in 1993’s Jurassic Park alongside Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.
He would reprise the role in Jurassic Park III in 2001, and again in Jurassic World Dominion just four years ago.
Neill recently worked on Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort, both of which are now set to be released posthumously in 2027.
On the small screen, he appeared in episodes of The Simpsons, Peaky Blinders, The Tudors and The Twelve.
One of Neill’s best-known roles in Australia, his adopted home, was as the scientist ‘Mitch’ in historical comedy-drama cult classic The Dish.
