Sam Neill

Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM OBE (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor, writer, producer, director and vineyard proprietor.

Sam Neill DCNZM OBE
Neill in 2010
Born	Nigel John Dermot Neill (1947-09-14) 14 September 1947 Omagh, Northern Ireland
Nationality	New Zealand United Kingdom Ireland
Education	Christ's College, Christchurch
Alma mater	University of Canterbury Victoria University of Wellington
Occupation	Actor writer producer director vineyard proprietor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse(s)	Lisa Harrow ​ ( m. 1980; div. 1989) Noriko Watanabe ​ ( m. 1989; separated  2017)
Children	4 (including one stepdaughter, one son put up for adoption)
Website	twopaddocks.com

Born in Omagh, Northern Ireland, he moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, with his family in 1954.[1] Neill first achieved recognition with his appearance in the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs, which he followed with leading roles in My Brilliant Career (1979), Omen III: The Final Conflict, Possession (both 1981), A Cry in the Dark (1988), Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt For Red October (1990), and The Piano (1993). He came to international prominence as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993).[2]

Outside of film, Neill has appeared in numerous television series, including Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983), The Simpsons (1994), Merlin (1998), The Tudors (2007), Crusoe (2008–2010), Happy Town (2010), Alcatraz (2012), Peaky Blinders (2013–2014) and Rick and Morty (2019). He has presented and narrated several documentaries.

Neill is the recipient of the Longford Lyell Award and the New Zealand Film Award and also the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. He has three Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.[3] He lives in Queenstown and has three children and one stepchild.

Early life

Northern Ireland

Neill was born in 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to Priscilla Beatrice (born Ingham) and Dermot Neill. His father, an army officer, was a third-generation New Zealander, while his mother was born in England.[4] His great-grandfather Percy Neill left Belfast in Northern Ireland for New Zealand in 1860, settling in Dunedin. He was the son of a wine merchant importing wine from France.[5][6]

At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers .[7] His father's family owned Neill and Co. (later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill).[8][9] Neill holds British and Irish citizenship through his place of birth, but identifies primarily as a New Zealander.[10]

New Zealand

In 1954, Neill moved with his family to New Zealand, where he attended the Anglican boys' boarding school Christ's College, Christchurch. He went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury, where he had his first exposure to acting. He moved to Wellington to continue his tertiary education at Victoria University, where he graduated with a BA in English literature.

In 2004, on the Australian talk show Enough Rope, interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the topic of Neill's stuttering. It affected most of his childhood and as a result he was "hoping that people wouldn't talk to [him]" so he would not have to answer. He also stated, "I kind of outgrew it. I can still ... you can still detect me as a stammerer."[11]

He first took to calling himself "Sam" at school because there were several other students named Nigel, and because he felt the name Nigel was "a little effete for ... a New Zealand playground".[11][12][13]

Acting career

New Zealand

Stills from Landfall – A Film About Ourselves

Neil's first film was a New Zealand television movie The City of No (1971). He followed it with a short, The Water Cycle (1972) and the TV movie Hunt's Duffer (1973). Neill wrote and directed a film for the New Zealand National Film Unit, Telephone Etiquette (1974). He was also appeared in Landfall (1976).

Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), the first local film to be widely screened abroad.

Australia

Neill went to Australia where he had a guest role on the TV show The Sullivans. He was the romantic male lead in My Brilliant Career (1979), opposite Judy Davis; this film was a big international success.

He made some Australian films that were less widely seen – The Journalist (1979), Just Out of Reach (1979) and Attack Force Z (1981), and appeared in television productions like Young Ramsay and Lucinda Brayford.

International career

In 1981 he won his first big international role, as Damien Thorn, son of the devil, in Omen III: The Final Conflict;[14] also in that year, he played an outstanding main role in Andrzej Żuławski's cult film Possession.[14]

He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. Among his many Australian roles is playing Michael Chamberlain in Evil Angels (1988) (released as A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand),[15] a film about the case of Azaria Chamberlain.

Neill has played heroes and occasionally villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he won early fame and was Golden Globe nominated after portraying real-life spy, Sidney Reilly, in the mini-series Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). An early American starring role was in 1987's Amerika, playing a senior KGB officer leading the occupation and division of a defeated United States. His leading and co-starring roles in films include the thriller Dead Calm (1989),[14] the two-part historical epic La Révolution française (1989) (as Marquis de Lafayette), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Death in Brunswick (1990),[14] Jurassic Park (1993), Sirens (1994), The Jungle Book (1994), John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Bicentennial Man (1999), and the comedy The Dish (2000).[14]

Neill at the première of Daybreakers during the Toronto International Film Festival, 2009

Neill has occasionally acted in New Zealand films, including The Piano (1993), Perfect Strangers (2003), Under the Mountain (2009), and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). He returned to directing in 1995 with the documentary Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995) which he wrote and directed with Judy Rymer.

In 1993, he co-starred with Anne Archer in Question of Faith, an independent drama based on a true story about one woman's fight to beat cancer and have a baby. In 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding. In 2001, he hosted and narrated a documentary series for the BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States).

He portrayed the eponymous wizard in Merlin (1998), a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur. He reprised his role in the sequel, Merlin's Apprentice (2006).

Neill starred in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", he said,[16] "It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling. It has elements that are hard to beat: revenge and betrayal, lust and treason, all the things that make for good stories."[16]

He acted in the short-lived Fox TV series Alcatraz (2012) as Emerson Hauser. He played the role of Otto Luger in the fantasy adventure movie The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box[17] (2014). He had a role in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, set in post-World War I Birmingham. He played the role of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a sadistic corrupt policeman, who came to clean up the town on Churchill's orders. In the 2015 BBC TV miniseries And Then There Were None, based on Agatha Christie's thriller, he played the role of General MacArthur.

In 2016, he starred in the New Zealand-made film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi, as well as the ITV miniseries Tutankhamun. In 2017, Neill appeared in a scene in Waititi's fantasy sequel Thor: Ragnarok, in which he portrays an actor playing Odin (as depicted by Anthony Hopkins), alongside Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon as actors playing Thor and Loki, respectively.

In 2018, he portrayed Mr. McGregor and also the voice of Tommy Brock in Peter Rabbit. In 2019, he was cast for the role of Denis Goldberg in Escape from Pretoria; however, the role was subsequently recast with Ian Hart. In late 2019, he was announced to renew his character of Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic World: Dominion, set for release in 2021.

Personal life

From about 1980 to 1989, Neill was in a relationship with actress Lisa Harrow.[18] They have a son, Tim, born in 1983. Neill subsequently married make-up artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 and they have one daughter, Elena (born in 1991). Neill separated from Watanabe in 2017,[19][20] and as of early 2018 was dating Australian political journalist Laura Tingle.[21][22][23][24]

He is stepfather to Maiko Spencer, a daughter from Watanabe's first marriage.[25] In his early 20s he fathered a son, Andrew, who was adopted by someone else. In 2014, Neill said the two "went looking for [one another]" and that their reunion was "much more grown-up" than expected.[26]

Neill at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Neill lives in Queenstown and owns a winery called Two Paddocks, consisting of a vineyard at Gibbston and two near Alexandra, all in the Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.[27] His avocation is running Two Paddocks. "I'd like the vineyard to support me but I'm afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business", said Neill,[16] "It is a ridiculously time- and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun, and it gets me pissed once in a while."[16] He enjoys sharing his exploits on the farm through social media.[28] He names his farm animals after film-industry colleagues.[29]

Neill has homes in Wellington, New Zealand, and Sydney, Australia. He is a supporter of the Australian Speak Easy Association and the British Stammering Association (BSA). He supports the New Zealand Labour Party[30] and the Australian Labor Party.

Recognition

Neill was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1991 for his work as an actor.[31] In 2007, Neill was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM). When knighthoods were returned to the New Zealand royal honours system in 2009, those with DCNZM or higher honours were given the option of converting them into knighthoods. Neill chose not to do this, saying the title of Sir was "just far too grand, by far".[32]

Neill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Canterbury in 2002.[33] In 2020, he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award, limited to 20 living people.[34]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Landfall	Eric
	Ashes	Priest
1977	Sleeping Dogs	Smith
1979	Just Out of Reach	Mike
	The Journalist	Rex
	My Brilliant Career	Harry Beecham
1981	Omen III: The Final Conflict	Damien Thorn
	Possession	Mark
	From a Far Country	Marian
1982	Ivanhoe	Brian de Bois-Guilbert
	Attack Force Z	Sergeant D. J. (Danny) Costello
	Enigma	Dimitri Vasilikov
1984	The Blood of Others	Bergman
	The Country Girls	Mr Gentleman
1985	Robbery Under Arms	Captain Starlight
	Plenty	Lazar
1986	For Love Alone	James Quick
1987	The Umbrella Woman	Neville Gifford
1988	Evil Angels	Michael Chamberlain	Won – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1989	Dead Calm	John Ingram
	La Révolution française	Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
1990	The Hunt for Red October	Captain Vasily Borodin
	Shadow of China	TV reporter	Credited as John Dermot
1991	Death in Brunswick	Carl 'Cookie' Fitzgerald	Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
	Until the End of the World	Eugene Fitzpatrick
	Fever	Eliott
1992	The Rainbow Warrior	Alan Galbraith
	Memoirs of an Invisible Man	David Jenkins	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Hostage	John Rennie
1993	The Piano	Alisdair Stewart	Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
	Jurassic Park	Dr. Alan Grant
	Sirens	Norman Lindsay
1994	Country Life	Dr. Max Askey
	The Jungle Book	Colonel Geofferey Brydon
	In the Mouth of Madness	John Trent
1995	Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill	Narrator
	Restoration	King Charles II
1996	Children of the Revolution	Nine
	Victory	Mr. Jones
1997	Event Horizon	Dr. William Weir
	Snow White: A Tale of Terror	Lord Fredric Hoffman
1998	The Horse Whisperer	Robert MacLean
	Sweet Revenge	Henry Bell
1999	Molokai	Walter Murray Gibson
	Bicentennial Man	'Sir' Richard Martin
2000	My Mother Frank	Professor Mortlock	Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
	The Dish	Cliff Buxton
	The Magic Pudding	Sam Sawnoff	Voice role
2001	Jurassic Park III	Dr. Alan Grant
	The Zookeeper	Ludovic	Won – Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2002	Dirty Deeds	Ray
	Leunig Animated	Narrator
2003	Perfect Strangers	The Man
2004	Yes	Anthony
	Wimbledon	Dennis Bradbury
2005	Gallipoli	Narrator	Voice role
	Little Fish	The Jockey
2006	Irresistible	Craig
2007	Angel	Théo
2008	Dean Spanley	Dean Spanley
	Skin	Abraham Laing
2009	In Her Skin	Mr. Reid
	Iron Road	Alfred Nichol
	Under the Mountain	Mr. Jones
	Daybreakers	Charles Bromley
2010	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole	Allomere	Voice role
2011	The Dragon Pearl	Chris Chase
	The Hunter	Jack Mindy	Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2012	The Vow	Bill Thornton
2013	Escape Plan	Dr. Kyrie
	The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box	Otto Luger
2014	United Passions	João Havelange
	A Long Way Down	Jess's father
2015	Backtrack	Duncan Stewart
	The Daughter	Walter Finch	Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2016	Hunt for the Wilderpeople	Uncle Hec
	Tommy's Honour	Alexander Boothby
2017	MindGamers	Kreutz
	Sweet Country	Fred Smith
2017	Thor: Ragnarok	Actor playing Odin
2018	The Commuter	Captain David Hawthorne
	Peter Rabbit	Mr. McGregor Tommy Brock (voice)
2019	Palm Beach	Leo
	Blackbird	Paul
	Ride Like a Girl	Paddy Payne
	Take Home Pay	Wedding Planner	Cameo
2020	Rams	Colin	Post-production
2021	Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway	Tommy Brock (voice)	Post-production
	Jurassic World: Dominion	Dr. Alan Grant	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Lucinda Brayford	Tony Duff	Four-part miniseries ABC Television, Melbourne Australia
1982	Ivanhoe	Brian de Bois-Guilbert
1983	Reilly, Ace of Spies	Sidney Reilly	12 episodes Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1985	Kane & Abel	William Lowell Kane
1986	Strong Medicine	Vince Lord
1987	Amerika	Colonel Andrei Denisov
1991	One Against the Wind	Sergeant James Liggett	Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1993	Family Pictures	David Eberlin
1994	The Simpsons	Molloy	Voice role Episode: "Homer the Vigilante"
1995	Forgotten Silver	Himself
1996	In Cold Blood	Agent Alvin Dewey
1998	Merlin	Merlin	Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
	The Games	Citytrans CEO	Episode: "Transport"
2000	Sally Hemings: An American Scandal	Thomas Jefferson
2001	Space	Himself	Documentary series
2001	Submerged	Lt. Cmdr. Charles B. 'Swede' Momsen
2002	Doctor Zhivago	Victor Komarovsky
	Framed	Eddie Meyers
2004	Stiff	Lionel Merricks
	Jessica	Richard Runche	Logie Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama
2005	The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant	Governor Arthur Phillip	2 episodes
	To the Ends of the Earth	Mr. Prettiman	3 episodes
	The Triangle	Eric Benerall	3 episodes Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television
2006	Merlin's Apprentice	Merlin
	Two Twisted	Mick	Episode: "Von Stauffenberg's Stamp"
2007	The Tudors	Cardinal Thomas Wolsey	10 episodes Nominated – Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series Nominated – Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
2008–2010	Crusoe	Jeremiah Blackthorn	14 episodes
2009	Happy Town	Merritt Grieves	8 episodes
	bro'Town	Himself	Voice role Episode: "To Sam with Love"
2010	Rake	Dr Bruce Chandler	Episode: "R v Chandler"
2011	Ice	Anthony Kavanagh
2012	Alcatraz	Emerson Hauser	13 episodes
2013	Harry	Jim "Stocks" Stockton
2013–2014	Peaky Blinders	Major Chester Campbell	12 episodes
2014	Old School	Ted Macabe
2014	House of Hancock	Lang Hancock
2015	And Then There Were None	General John Gordon MacArthur
2016	Why Anzac with Sam Neill	Himself	Documentary, wrote and produced
	New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands	Narrator	Documentary series, 3 episodes Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator
	Tutankhamun	Lord Carnavon
	Country Calendar	Himself	Episode: "Film Noir"
2018	The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook with Sam Neill[35]	Himself	Documentary series, 6 episodes (known as Captain Cook's Pacific with Sam Neill in the UK)[36]
2019	Rick and Morty[37]	Monogatron Leader	Voice Episode: "The Old Man and the Seat"

See also

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References

1. "Sam Neill in Uncharted territory with new series". New Zealand Herald. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
2. Yasharoff, Hannah (25 September 2019). "Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill to return for 'major roles' in 'Jurassic World 3'". USA Today. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
3. Awards for Sam Neill on IMDb
4. Beck, Chris (2 September 2004). "The interview". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
5. "New cellar door pops up in Neill's life" by Louise Scott, Otago Daily Times, 6 January 2016
6. "My life: Sam Neill" by Susan Jung, South China Morning Post, 21 April 2013
7. Condon, Eileen (8 May 2001). "Dishy Sam's got space aspirations; For an actor fascinated by space travel Sam Neill must have thought he'd landed a dream role with his new film, The Dish. The Omagh-born actor talks to Eileen Condon about his latest role". The News Letter. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
8. James Beech (4 March 2014). "Vineyard named in honour of father". Otago Daily Times.
9. Annabel Wilson (21 November 2017). "Obituary: Otago businessman Robert Wilson remembered as food industry pioneer". stuff.co.nz.
10. Jacques, Adam (25 August 2013). "Sam Neill: The actor on growing up in Northern Ireland, surviving". The Independent. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
11. "Sam Neill". Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. Episode 45. Australia. 7 June 2004. ABC. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
12. Erika Grams. "Sam Neill – FAQ". Ibiblio.org. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
13. "Nigel, Neville??". Lexigame.com. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
14. For Your Consideration: Sam Neill for the FANGORIA Hall of Fame!, Fangoria.com, 11 January 2015.
15. "A Cry in the Dark (1988) – Release dates". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
16. Pam Brown. The West. "A glorious romp through history", 5 February 2008. Archived 12 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
17. Adam Dawtrey (11 April 2012). "Aneurin Barnard tapped for 'Mariah Mundi'". Variety article. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
18. Catherall, Sarah (28 March 2018). "Lisa Harrow reflects on the pivotal moments in her colourful career". The New Zealand Listener.
19. "Sam Neill's Love Triangle". Woman's Day. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
20. "Actor Sam Neill on family, friends, film and his other passion: winemaking". Australian Financial Review. 5 April 2018.
21. Robin, Myriam (4 February 2018). "Actor Sam Neill and AFR political editor Laura Tingle start dating". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
22. "Dailytelegraph.com.au | Subscribe to The Daily Telegraph for exclusive stories". www.dailytelegraph.com.au.
23. Moore, Hannah (2 May 2018). "Hollywood star Sam Neill, 70, finds love with political journalist Laura Tingle, 56 – after the pair started flirting on Twitter". Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2019 – via MSN UK.
24. "Sam Neill's Twitter romance gets 'serious'". Spy website, The New Zealand Herald. Auckland. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
25. "Sam Neill – Family & Companions". yahoo.com. 10 January 1991. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
26. Wilson, Fiona (11 October 2014). "What I've learnt: Sam Neill". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
27. Scott, Cathy. "Two Paddocks: Our Story".
28. "Let's take a moment to appreciate Sam Neill's beautiful, perfect, pig-filled Twitter account". 24 August 2017.
29. "Meet Taika, the latest Sam Neill's farm animal with a famous name". Stuff. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
30. "Sam Neil's Oamaru Speech | Scoop News".
31. "No. 52564". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1991. p. 30.
32. "Sir 'just far too grand' for Neill". Otago Daily Times. 1 August 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
33. "Honorary Graduates" (PDF). University of Canterbury. 2014. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2015.
34. "The 2020 Arts Foundation Icon Award Whakamana Hiranga recipients announced". Scoop Culture. 4 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
35. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8966970/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_12
36. https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/jqm28b/captain-cooks-pacific-with-sam-neill--s1-e3-endeavour-and-australia/
37. Plante, Corey (2 November 2018). "'Rick and Morty' Season 4's First Guest Star Is Almost Too Perfect". Inverse. Retrieved 10 August 2019.

External links

• Sam Neill on IMDb
• Sam Neill on Twitter
• Sam Neill at Rotten Tomatoes