An outpouring of tributes
Sam Neill played an aging general with a dark secret in the 2015 Agatha Christie adaptation
And Then There Were None.
BBC
Sam Neill played an aging general with a dark secret in the 2015 Agatha Christie adaptation And Then There Were None. BBC
Neill faced off against gang leader Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) as Major Chester Campbell in the first two seasons of
Peaky Blinders.
BBC/Netflix
Neill faced off against gang leader Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) as Major Chester Campbell in the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders. BBC/Netflix
Sam Neill played an aging general with a dark secret in the 2015 Agatha Christie adaptation And Then There Were None. BBC
Neill faced off against gang leader Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) as Major Chester Campbell in the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders. BBC/Netflix
Naturally, there was a generous outpouring of tributes from industry colleagues. Neill was, by all accounts, a veritable Mensch with a warmly low-key and self-deprecating personality. “Like everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure,” Peaky Blinders star Murphy said. “He was one of the kindest, funniest, and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors. RIP.”
“Sam was exceptionally collaborative,” said Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg. “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.”
Dern also weighed in. “Sam was my beloved lifetime friend,” she told Variety. “He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit. He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.”
“Even though you didn’t even remember it, I still think your best work is when you explain space travel by poking a pen through a piece of paper in Event Horizon (also the awesome eyes bit), and playing the antichrist, Damien Thorn, in Omen 3,” Waititi posted on Instagram. “I’m not sure what other roles you did but whatever. You are so loved and will be sorely missed by us all. Love you and see you soon, sweet Nigel.” (Nigel is Neill’s given name: Sir Nigel John Dermott Neill.)
Nor was it just Hollywood celebrities who mourned the actor’s passing. “There was no aspect of him that was: ‘Hey I’m Sam Neill and I’m walking down the main street,’” Russell Garbut, a resident of the tiny New Zealand township of Clyde that Neill regularly visited, told the Guardian. “There was none of that sort of bullshit. I think he was an extremely down-to-earth guy, and was—and it sounds disparaging—but just a local, he fitted into the community.”
In Neill’s honor, here are our picks for seven of his best film performances, in chronological order.
Credit:
New South Wales Film Corporation Margaret Fink Productions
Credit:
New South Wales Film Corporation Margaret Fink Productions
Director Gillian Armstrong’s 1979 period drama, based on a novel by Miles Franklin, was Neill’s first major role, and his performance established him as a rising romantic lead. Judy Davis stars as Sybylla, a rebellious young woman in 19th century Australia who longs to be a writer, but her traditionalist parents refuse to indulge those dreams, sending her to board with her wealthy grandmother instead.
