Sam Neill, 1947 – 2026

Dashingly handsome Irish-born actor Sam Neill, 78, died on July 13. He is best known for playing Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park movies (none of which I have seen), but I first spotted him in Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). Born into Old Money, Neill grew up in New Zealand, and was acting in movies and TV by the early ‘70s. His first hit was in My Brilliant Career, and he went on to appear in such films as The Final Conflict, Possession, Attack Force Z, A Cry in the Dark, Ivanhoe, Sirens, Dead Calm, Death in Brunswick, The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, In the Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon, and all those dino-films; he was also a regular presence on TV (most recently in The Twelve)—he appeared on The Simpsons in 1989, and said, "I'm playing a cat burglar. I've made it. This is the high point of my career. I'm really chuffed.” Neill also dabbled in politics and owned a vineyard (“If all I did was acting, I'd go out of my mind.”). He credited My Brilliant Career with jump-starting his own career: “if you look at Sleeping Dogs, you think, ‘Well, I wouldn't use that bugger again.’ But I did get cast in Brilliant Career, I kind of understood a little bit more about what was necessary, and it was a great opportunity for me. That film changed me into an actor rather than just a part-time thespian.”