The actor's family said: "It is with immense sadness that the whanau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday, July 13, in Sydney, Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life."12:34, 13 Jul 2026Updated 12:34, 13 Jul 2026Fans are mourning acting legend Sam Neill, who has died at the age of 78. First appearing on New Zealand television in the 1970s, his first major role was as the adult version of the Antichrist Damien Thorn in Omen III: The Final Conflict in 1981. He was probably best known for his role as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, and reprised the role in two later films in the series.‌His family announced his death on his Instagram account today, Monday, saying: "It is with immense sadness that the whanau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday, July 13, in Sydney, Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life.‌"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. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”‌In 2022 Sam was diagnosed with stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But earlier this year revealed he was cancer-free after undergoing a new form of treatment.And some fans are only just noticing a hidden detail about Sam's character in 1997 sci-fi horror Event Horizon. Set in the year 2047, the film depicts of crew of astronauts sent to investigate after a spaceship which disappeared seven years previously - the titular Event Horizon - suddenly re-appears in orbit around Neptune. Sam played the ship's designer Dr William Weir, who is possessed by the evil force inhabiting the ship.In the film, each of the astronauts is seen wearing a patch on their uniform representing their county of origin - but fans noticed something different about the emblem worn by Dr Weir. His uniform features an Australian flag, but with a notable difference.‌Instead of the Union Flag of the UK in the top left, representing the country's history of British settlement, the emblem on Sam's uniform features the Australian Aboriginal flag, along with the stars on the current flag. This flag is split in half horizontally, with the top half coloured black, representing the Aboriginal people, and the bottom portion coloured red, representing the earth of the nation itself and the people's connection to the land. A yellow circle features in the middle, representing the Sun.Although the flag is never referred to in the film, it is implied that this has replaced the current Australian flag by 2047. British characters in the film wear an EU flag which features more stars than the current version.A Tweet posted by Welsh Twitter user @Jayfuz in 2020 resurfaced following the announcement of Sam's death this morning. The message said: "Today I learnt: For the Sci-Fi Horror film 'Event Horizon' Sam Neill requested that the Australian flag on his character's uniform remove the Union Flag from the corner and for it to be replaced with the Aboriginal flag, the way he thought it should look in 2047."‌The actor himself replied to the Tweet to confirm it, saying: "This is indeed so. And I wouldn't do it any differently today."Content cannot be displayed without consentSpeaking about his cancer treatment earlier this year, Sam said: "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."Article continues belowSpeaking to Australian network 7 News, he continued: "Then the chemo stopped working. I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn’t ideal obviously." He added: "I've just had a scan just now, and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing. I'm very, very excited that this can happen."And, speaking in 2022 after his initial diagnosis, Sam told Australian Story: "I'm not in any way frightened of dying. That doesn't worry me. It's never worried me from the beginning, but I would be annoyed. I'd be annoyed because there are things I still want to do. Very irritating, dying. But I'm not afraid of it."Fans of the actor still have something to look forward to - he will appear posthumously next year in monster action blockbuster Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, and romantic comedy The Last Resort.