Sam Neill
Neill at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Nigel John Dermot Neill (1947-09-14) 14 September 1947 (age 64) Omagh, Northern Ireland, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Lisa Harrow (unknown – c. 1989; 1 child) Noriko Watanabe (September 1989 – present; 1 child)

Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor.^[1] He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III.

He has also had a number of high-profile roles including the lead in Reilly, Ace of Spies, the adult Damien in Omen III: The Final Conflict, Merlin in the miniseries Merlin, Captain Vasily Borodin in The Hunt for Red October, Colonel Geoffrey Brydon in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and Alistair Stewart in The Piano. In 2007 he played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in Showtime's The Tudors, and in 2012 began a starring role on the FOX drama Alcatraz.

Early life[link]

Neill was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the second son of Dermot Neill, a Harrow- and Sandhurst-educated army officer and third-generation New Zealander, and his English wife Priscilla (née Ingham).^[2] At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Irish Guards.^[3] The Neills owned Neill and Co., the largest liquor retailers in New Zealand.

In 1954, Neill returned with his family to New Zealand, where he attended the Anglican boys' boarding school Christ's College in Christchurch. He then went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury where he had his first exposure to acting. While at university he lived at College House^[4] where he held the position of "Chief Castigator and Crime Crusher" (CCACC). He then moved to Wellington to continue his tertiary education at Victoria University from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.

In 2004, on Australian talk show Enough Rope, interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the issue of Neill's "very bad" stuttering. It affected most of his childhood and as a result he was "hoping that people wouldn't talk to [him]" so he would not have to answer back. He has mostly outgrown it, however he claims it can still be detected to this day.^[5]

He first took to calling himself "Sam" at school in New Zealand where there were other Nigels and the name Nigel was "a little effete for ... a New Zealand playground".^[5][6][7]

Acting career[link]

Sam Neill at the première of Daybreakers during the Toronto International Film Festival, 2009

After working at the New Zealand National Film Unit as a director and actor Neill was cast as the lead in the New Zealand film Sleeping Dogs. Following this he appeared in the Australian classic, My Brilliant Career (1979), opposite Judy Davis. In the late 1970s, his mentor was James Mason.

This appearance led to his being selected to play Damien Thorn in Omen III: The Final Conflict in 1981. Later, Neill was also one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but he lost out to Timothy Dalton.

An important dramatic role was in Evil Angels (1988), released outside of Australia as A Cry In The Dark, about the case of Azaria Chamberlain.

Neill has played heroes and villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK he became well-known in the early 1980s starring in dramas such as Ivanhoe (1982) and notably in the title role of Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). Neill is known for his leading and co-starring roles in major films including Dead Calm (1989), La Révolution française (1989) playing the famous Marquis de Lafayette, The Hunt for Red October (1990), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), The Piano (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), Sirens (1994), Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994), In the Mouth of Madness (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Bicentennial Man (1999), The Dish (2000) and Jurassic Park III (2001).

The film Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995) was written and directed by Sam Neill and Judy Rymer. In it Neill narrated his personal recollection of New Zealand film history.

In 1993, Neill co-starred with Anne Archer in Question of Faith, an independent drama based on a true story about one woman's fight to beat cancer and have a baby.

In 2002 he hosted and narrated a series of documentaries for the BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States).

In 2006, Neill recorded a series of radio advertisements for Fifth Third Bank in the midwestern United States.

Neill also appeared in Merlin (1998), a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur, portraying the legendary wizard. He also reprised his role as Merlin in the sequel, Merlin's Apprentice (2006), in which Merlin learns he fathered a son with the Lady of the Lake.

Neill starred in the historical drama The Tudors on the Showtime Network playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", Neill said,^[8] “It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling. It has elements that are hard to beat: revenge and betrayal, lust and treason, all the things that make for good stories."^[8] Neill starred as Mr. Jones in Under the Mountain and as Charles Bromley in Daybreakers.^[9]

He also starred in an ABC TV production called Happy Town (2010), in which he played Merritt Grieves, a mysterious film memorabilia shop proprietor. He has also been cast in the Fox TV series Alcatraz as Emerson Hauser.

Personal life[link]

Neill lives in Queenstown, New Zealand and also has homes in Wellington, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia. He has one son, Tim (born in 1983), by New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow, and one daughter, Elena (born in 1991),^[10] by makeup artist Noriko Watanabe, whom he married in 1989. He also has a stepdaughter, Maiko Spencer, (born 1982) who is from Noriko Watanabe's first marriage. He is a supporter of the Australian Speak Easy Association and the British Stammering Association (BSA). He also supports the Australian Labor Party, and the New Zealand Labour Party.^[11] He is a patron of the National Performance Conference and donated a pair of jeans to the Jeans for Genes auction; they were painted by artist Merv Moriarty and auctioned in August 1998.

Neill's hobby is running a winery called Two Paddocks in Central Otago on New Zealand's South Island.^[8] "I’d like the vineyard to support me but I’m afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business", said Neill,^[8] "It is a ridiculously time and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun: and it gets me pissed once in a while."^[8]

Neill is friends with New Zealand musicians Neil Finn and Tim Finn, of Crowded House and Split Enz, and with Australian musician Jimmy Barnes.^{[citation needed]}

Neill has been appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM). When knighthoods were returned to the New Zealand Honours System in 2009, those with DCNZM or higher honours were given the option of converting them into knighthoods. Neill chose not to do this, saying the title of Sir was "just far too grand, by far".^[12]

Filmography[link]

Theatrical/direct-to-video films[link]

Television[link]

• Ivanhoe (1982)
• Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983)
• Kane and Abel (1985)
• Amerika (1987)
• The Simpsons episode 1F09: "Homer the Vigilante" as Molloy the Cat Burglar (1994)
• Forgotten Silver as Himself (1995)
• In Cold Blood (1996)
• Merlin (1998)
• The Games Season 1, Episode 13 as Transport Consultant (1998)
• Space (a.k.a. Hyperspace) (2001)
• Doctor Zhivago (2002)
• Framed (2002)
• Stiff (2004)
• Jessica (2004)
• The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant (2005)
• To the Ends of the Earth (2005)
• The Triangle (2005)
• Merlin's Apprentice (2006)
• Two Twisted (2006)
• The Tudors (2007) as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.
• Crusoe (2008)
• Bro'Town (2009)
• Happy Town (2010)
• Ice (2011)^[13]
• Alcatraz (2012)
• Deep Space Marvels (2011)^[14]

Award nominations[link]

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for: "Merlin" (1998)

Golden Globe Awards

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: "Merlin" (1998)
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: "One Against the Wind"
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: "Reilly: Ace of Spies" (1983)

Personal quotes[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sam Neill

"Of all the characters I've played, I think I have more in common with that guy than with Reilly: Ace of Spies referring to Carl Fitzgerald in Death in Brunswick.^[15]

Referring to The Simpsons: "I'm playing a cat burglar. I've made it. This is the high point of my career. I'm really chuffed."^[16]

"I got an Irish passport the other day. I love it. It's the best thing in my pocket."^[17]

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sam Neill

• Sam Neill at the Internet Movie Database
• Two Paddocks official website