Sam Neill, the actor known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, died of pneumonia, his agent confirmed on Thursday.
Philip Grenz, Neill’s longtime agent, told the BBC that he decided to reveal the cause after speaking to the actor’s family to correct “inaccurate and outright falsehoods” being reported in the media.
“As Sam Neill’s longtime rep, I spoke with his family and wish to clarify some details for his fans,” the statement from Grenz said. “Sam passed away from pneumonia. Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy.”
Grenz said that during the past year, Neill “filmed four projects back-to-back… all of which will be released within the coming months.”
He said that Neill’s family “will honour him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date.”
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“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.
Pneumonia is swelling of one or both lungs that causes the air sacs in the lungs to fill with pus and mucus, according to the Canadian Lung Association.
The inflammation of the air sacs keeps oxygen from reaching your bloodstream properly, it says. Pneumonia can be life-threatening, the organization notes, adding that it’s a leading cause of death and hospitalization in seniors and in people with long-term diseases.
Neill’s family announced that he had died on Monday at the age of 78, calling his death “sudden and unexpected.”
“It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,” his family wrote.
“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,” the statement added.
In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
In April of this year, Neill announced he was cancer-free.
“I’ve been living with a particular type of lymphoma for about five years and I was on chemotherapy and the pretty miserable business but it was keeping me alive,” he told Australian network 7news.
He said that after the chemotherapy stopped working, he was “at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously.”
After undergoing a treatment that genetically modifies blood cells, Neill said he was free of cancer.
“I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing,” he said. “I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”
Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
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