Mon Jul 13 2026 - 09:14 • 1 MIN READSam Neill, the Omagh-born actor who became one of New Zealand’s most celebrated screen exports through films such as The Piano and Jurassic Park, has died aged 78.Here, in photographs from the news agencies, is a look back at a career that ran from My Brilliant Career and Reilly: Ace of Spies to Peaky Blinders - taking in dinosaurs, pianos and a Central Otago vineyard along the way.Actress Isabelle Adjani and actor Sam Neil at Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France in May 1981.
Photo by Jean-Louis URLI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Sam Neill at Festival de Cannes in May 1981, France. (Photo by URLI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) Photo by Micheline PELLETIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Irish actor Sam Neill on the set of The Hunt of Red October, based on the novel by Tom Clancy, and directed by John McTiernan.
Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images Meryl Streep (C), Sam Neill (3rd L) and President of the Cannes Festival Pierre Viot (4th R) arrive on May 13, 1989 for the screening of the film "A Cry in the Dark" directed by Fred Schepisi at the 42th International Cannes Film Festival.
Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images Holly Hunter and Sam Neill at Festival de Cannes, 24 May 1993.
