Sam Neill has passed away at the age of 78. The death of the Jurassic Park star was announced by his family in an Instagram post. It said:

It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, 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.

After filming Jurassic World Dominion, Neill revealed that he had stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a form of blood cancer. This would require chemotherapy for the rest of his life. In April, Neill revealed that he was cancer-free.

Neill was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in New Zealand. His career started with the New Zealand television film The City of No in 1971. His first big break was in 1977’s Sleeping Dogs. This was the first 35mm film to be shot in New Zealand. This began a lifelong career that saw him appearing regularly on the big and small screens. This included films like A Cry in the Dark, The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, and Jurassic Park. In Jurassic Park, he portrayed the character Dr. Alan Grant. He would play this character again in Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion. He was also in Thor: Ragnarok, Peter Rabbit, and many other films and series. For these roles, he earned nominations for three Golden Globes, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a British Academy Television Award.

Jurassic Park co-star Laura Dern shared her thoughts on Neill’s death, saying, “Sam was my beloved lifetime friend… He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit,” Dern wrote in her statement to EW. “He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.”

Steven Spielberg also shared his thoughts on Neill’s passing with a post on Instagram that said, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”

Two sons and two daughters survive Neill.