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Actor Sam Neill of New Zealand died today at age 78. He had a wide-ranging career of over five decades, his most famous role coming in the "Jurassic Park" franchise where he played paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant. NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas has this remembrance.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Sam Neill played a lot of different characters across his life, but he was best known and loved by fans around the world for the 1993 Steven Spielberg blockbuster "Jurassic Park." Neill played Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist with doubts.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JURASSIC PARK")
SAM NEILL: (As Dr. Alan Grant) I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look - dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution, have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?
TSIOULCAS: He went on to reprise the character in video games and two more installments in the "Jurassic" franchise. But he played many other kinds of roles, too, from Holly Hunter's clueless husband in Jane Campion's film "The Piano" to the hugely entertaining antagonist, Inspector Campbell, in the first two seasons of the BBC historical crime drama "Peaky Blinders."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEAKY BLINDERS")
NEILL: (As Inspector Chester Campbell) If you read the papers, you might have seen that the Home Secretary has got himself into a bit of a fizz about certain moral issues - prostitution, protection, racketeering, drinking, cocaine and, of course, gambling. And he has demanded results.
TSIOULCAS: Sam Neill was born in Northern Ireland and given the first name Nigel. But when his parents moved to his father's native New Zealand when he was 11, he seized the opportunity to shed a name he despised and took on the name Sam, which he felt was much more down-to-earth. In recent years, he shared charming scenes on social media from his life on a farm and winery he owned in New Zealand, like in this Instagram video from April, in which he enthuses over a cluster of Pinot Noir grapes.
(SOUNDBITE OF INSTAGRAM VIDEO)
NEILL: And we're picking like crazy today 'cause everything's just so good and ready. And look, for instance, I have the perfect bunch right there. Ah. (Smacking lips) Oh, I can't tell you how delicious that is.
TSIOULCAS: In 2022, Neill was diagnosed with cancer, angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, and was treated for it for years. His family said he was cancer-free when he died in Sydney, Australia, today but did not provide any further details. Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF JOHN WILLIAMS' "MAIN THEME (FROM 'JURASSIC PARK')") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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