Sam Neill will best be remembered by generations of cinema lovers as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park franchise. Neill, who imbued the iconic doctor with humor and heart, died this week at age 78. The New Zealand actor’s career spanned five decades, and ranged from blockbusters like Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur classic to horror films like Possession to romances like My Brilliant Career. 

Neill first broke out in the 1977 New Zealand action thriller Sleeping Dogs, and launched his international career starting in the early ’80s. His early work, such as the historical romance Ivanhoe and the Australian drama Evil Angels, showcased his versatility and screen presence. Those led to larger films like the Jurassic flicks, The Hunt for Red October, Event Horizon, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, as well as series like The Tudors, Merlin (for which he was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe), and Peaky Blinders. For more about some of the renowned leading man’s performances, read on.

Jurassic World: Dominion

Neill reprises his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park sequel Jurassic World: Dominion. He’s joined by Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm. The beloved trio is dragged back into the dino fray four years after Isla Nublar was destroyed in the previous film. Dinosaurs now live alongside humans and create chaos everywhere they go. As Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) embark on a daring rescue mission, Dr. Sattler approaches her former colleague and love interest, Dr. Grant, for help in unraveling a dangerous conspiracy that could devastate the world as they know it.

Jurassic World: Dominion

2h 27m   PG-13   2022

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Peaky Blinders

Every complicated hero needs an equally complex villain. For Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby, that was Neill’s Major Chester Campbell, who plagues Tommy’s every move in the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders. As Tommy enacts his plan to make his eponymous family crime gang the most fearsome in town, his increasingly aggressive actions catch the attention of Winston Churchill. Because fixing horse races and challenging another local mobster is one thing, but stealing weapons from the military’s arms factory? That requires a ruthless response. And Campbell is more than happy to deliver.

Peaky Blinders

6 Seasons   TV-MA   2013

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UNTAMED

Neill portrays the experienced, dedicated chief park ranger Paul Souter in this mystery thriller series about the race to track down a killer. When a young woman’s body is found in Yosemite National Park, many assume her death was a tragic accident. But Special Agent Kyle Turner (Eric Bana) is soon dispatched by the National Parks Service to investigate. As Kyle contends with the growing mystery, he also must face down the ghosts of his past — because the dark secrets lurking in the shadows may be just as dangerous as the murderer running free.

UNTAMED

6 Episodes   TV-MA   2025

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The Vow

Inspired by true events, this romantic drama follows a newlywed couple, Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum), who get into a car crash that wipes the last five years from Paige’s memories — including everything she knows about her husband. Determined to keep their marriage alive, Leo does everything he can to woo his wife and remind her why they fell in love. Neill plays Bill, Paige’s father, whose estranged relationship with his daughter adds to the mystery.

The Vow

1h 44m   PG-13   2012

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