Sam Neill, a versatile actor whose career moved from art film to blockbuster, has died. He was 78. Neill died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page.

Early Life and Career

Neill was born in Northern Ireland and emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. He first came to the attention of international audiences in the 1979 film ‘My Brilliant Career,’ which also introduced Judy Davis.

Neill’s range was remarkable, playing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy ‘Sweet Revenge’ to chopping off Hunter’s finger in ‘The Piano’ to poking his own eyes out in the sci-fi horror ‘Event Horizon.’ He also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in ‘The Tudors’ and Damien the Antichrist in ‘Omen III: The Final Conflict.’

Film Roles and Legacy

Perhaps Neill achieved his highest level of fame in ‘Jurassic Park’ playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough.

Neill grew up in Dunedin on the South Island and was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in ‘Sleeping Dogs’ in 1977, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned Neill as ‘one of the greats’ in a statement posted to social media. Neill was also a vintner and under his Two Paddocks brand, he produced pinot noir and riesling wines from his winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island.

Original reporting: KTSA News/Talk (San Antonio) — read the source article.