Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the "Jurassic Park" film franchise, has died at age 78, his family announced Monday, just months after the actor revealed he had beaten a rare form of blood cancer.

"It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney, Australia," his family said in a statement posted to the actor's Instagram page, using the Māori word for extended family or community. "The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free," the statement continued. "Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life." The family did not specify a cause of death and thanked staff at St. Vincent's Private Hospital for their care, asking for privacy as they navigate what they called "this immeasurable loss."

Neill's death comes just months after he shared what appeared to be triumphant health news. In 2023, he had revealed he was being treated for stage-three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin blood cancer, requiring ongoing chemotherapy. When that treatment eventually stopped working, Neill underwent CAR T-cell therapy as part of an Australian clinical trial, and in April 2026 he announced the treatment had been successful. "I've just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that's an extraordinary thing," Neill said at the time.

Neill's five-decade career spanned dozens of films and television series........

© International Business Times