Sam Neill, who starred in the hit movie “Jurassic Park” as Dr. Alan Grant, tragically passed away at the age of 78, and someone who was very close to him is providing some new details on the actor’s final days.
Laura Tingle, an Australian journalist who dated Neill from 2018 to 202, said that he had been “fighting various forms of cancer for at least the last five years intensively.”
“That takes a toll on anybody’s body. He’d had a lot of chemo and a lot of immunotherapy,” she said on ‘Sydney Mornings.‘ “Thankfully, it had finally cleared him of the blood cancer that he had. But that left him pretty compromised in terms of his immune system. I think his poor old body sort of got a bit exhausted.”
She further added that Tingle had been “sick for the last couple of weeks.”
“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,” she added
‘Jurassic Park’ Family Pays Tribute To Sam Neill
Following news of Neill’s passing, many of those who worked with Neill over the course of his successful career paid tribute to the actor. And with that, it was a lot of individuals from the “Jurassic Park” film.
His co-star Laura Dern shared a statement to Page Six.
“Sam was my beloved lifetime friend. He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit,” she told the outlet, adding that he was “true and noble gentleman” who was “wrapped up in my dream leading man.”
“I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant,” Dern concluded.
Steven Spielberg, who directed the hit film, also released a statement, saying he is “saddened” by the news.
“I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in ‘Jurassic Park,’” Spielberg told Variety.
“Sam was exceptionally collaborative,” he added. “It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children.”
“I adored making all the ‘Jurassic’ movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our ‘Jurassic’ family, and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world,” Spielberg concluded.
Sam Neill Made Comments About His Death Years Before It Happened
Gege Akutami/Shueisha, JUJUTSU KAISEN ProjectDuring an interview with “Australian Story” in 2023, Neill made comments about his inevitable passing.
“I am not in any way frightened of dying,” he said. “It’s never worried me from the beginning. But I would be annoyed. I’d be annoyed because there are still things I want to do. But I’m not afraid of it.”
