Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" NeillKNZMOBE (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor and vintner. Neill's career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.[3][4]
Neill was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to Priscilla Beatrice (née Ingham) and Dermot Neill. His father, an army officer, was a second-generation New Zealander, while his mother was English.[9]
His great-grandfather Percival "Percy" Neill left Belfast, Ireland, and moved to Melbourne, Australia, joining a firm of merchants. Four years later, in 1863, he moved to New Zealand, settling in Dunedin. He was the son of a wine merchant importing wine from France.[10][11][12]
At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.[13] His father's family owned Neill and Co. (later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill).[14][15]
New Zealand
In 1954 the Neill family moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, living in Cashmere. In Christchurch Sam attended Cashmere Primary School, then Medbury School a private prepatory (prep) school. After a year his parents and younger sister Juliet moved south to his father's home city of Dunedin. They lived at Macandrew Bay, where the kids could roam free in the holidays. [16]
He first took to calling himself "Sam" at school because there were several other students named Nigel, and because he felt the name Nigel was "a little effete for ... a New Zealand playground".[17][18][19]
He went on to study at the University of Canterbury. He was uncertain about a career, rejecting following his father into the Army or the family firm. He considered law but wasted one year when he failed all four law units.
He was in several plays, such as Ngaio Marsh's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one of Marsh's Shakespeare productions for the Canterbury University Drama Society, in which Neill played Theseus. He acted in a production of ‘‘Marat/Sade’’ by Mervyn Thompson, and when another actor dropped out of a Wellington season, he replaced him as Jacques Roux, a role he played ‘’frothing and raving in a straitjacket’’. [20]
The play was staged at Downstage Theatre. Sam had ‘’the time of [his] life’’ and saw that the arts and drama were ‘’part of the fabric of the city, ‘’ unlike in Christchurch or Dunedin. He transferred from the University of Canterbury to Victoria University of Wellington to finish his BA degree with a philosophy unit; and passed the ‘’logic’’ paper with some last-minute coaching by John Clarke. He played ‘’Macbeth’’ in a university production directed by Phillip Mann. Then he joined Downstage as a professional paid actor, paid thirtyfive dollars a week; plus food from the kitchen left over from the meal served to the audience before the show. [21]
In 2004, on the Australian talk show Enough Rope, interviewer Andrew Denton briefly touched on the topic of Neill's stuttering. He recalled how deeply it had affected him in his life and, as a result, he often found himself "hoping that people wouldn't talk to [him]" so he would not have to answer. He also stated, "I kind of outgrew it. I can still ... you can still detect me as a stammerer."[17]
Acting career
New Zealand
Stills from Landfall – A Film About Ourselves (1974)
Neill's first film was a New Zealand television film The City of No (1971). He followed it with a short, The Water Cycle (1972) and the television film Hunt's Duffer (1973). Neill wrote and directed a film for the New Zealand National Film Unit, Telephone Etiquette (1974). He also appeared in Landfall (1975).[22]
Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), the first local film to be widely screened overseas.
Australia
Neill went to Australia where he had a guest role on the TV show The Sullivans. He was the romantic male lead in My Brilliant Career (1979), opposite Judy Davis, which was a big international success.
In 1993, he 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 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding. In 2001, he hosted and narrated a documentary series for the BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States).
Neill starred in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", he said,[26] "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."[26]
Neill at Burghound Asia in Singapore in 2011
He acted in the short-lived Fox TV series Alcatraz (2012) as Emerson Hauser. He played the role of Otto Luger in the fantasy adventure film The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box[27] (2014). He had a role in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, set in post-World War I Birmingham. He played the role of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a sadistic corrupt policeman, who came to clean up the town on Churchill's orders. In the 2015 BBC TV miniseries And Then There Were None, based on Agatha Christie's thriller, he played the role of General MacArthur.
In 2018, he portrayed Mr. McGregor and also provided the voice of Tommy Brock, in Peter Rabbit. In 2019, he was cast for the role of Denis Goldberg in Escape from Pretoria; however, the role was subsequently recast with Ian Hart. In late 2019, he was announced to reprise his character of Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World Dominion, which released in July 2022.[28]
In 2022, Neill appeared in the Foxtel legal drama The Twelve as Brett Colby. When the series was renewed for series 2, Neill would reprise the role of Colby being the only member of the original season one cast to do so.[29] On 16 September 2024, it was announced that The Twelve had been renewed for a third season and Neill would be returning as Colby.[30]
On 21 June 2024, Neill was named in the cast for the Netflix drama Untamed.[31]
Personal life
In 1980, Neill met actress Lisa Harrow while filming Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981) and they have a son.[32] He married make-up artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 and they have one daughter together. He also adopted Watanabe's daughter from her first marriage.[33][34] He separated from Watanabe in 2017,[35][36] and dated Australian political journalist Laura Tingle from 2018 to 2021.[37][38][39]
In his early twenties, Neill fathered a son who was placed for adoption. They reunited in 1994.[40]
Neill lives in Alexandra, New Zealand, South Island, and owns a winery called Two Paddocks, consisting of a vineyard at Gibbston and two near Alexandra, all in the Central Otago wine region.[41] His avocation is running Two Paddocks. "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,[26] "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."[26] He enjoys sharing his exploits on the farm through social media.[42] He names his farm animals after film-industry colleagues.[43]
In March 2023, Neill revealed that he had been undergoing chemotherapy since March 2022 after being diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, following swollen glands that were first noticed during publicity for Jurassic World Dominion.[46] He stated that the cancer is in remission, but he will require monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life.[47][46]
Neill used his year away from work while undergoing his cancer treatment to write a memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, published in March 2023.[48][46]
Neill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Canterbury in 2002.[53] Neill was awarded the 2019 Equity New Zealand Lifetime achievement award, celebrating his distinguished performance career, as well as his leadership and mentoring towards others in the acting industry.[54] In 2020, he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award, limited to 20 living people.[55]
10 episodes Nominated – Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series Nominated – Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
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↑ "Sam Neill on what he's learned". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2024. I've got three passports. New Zealand, British and Irish
1 2 "Sam Neill". Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. Episode 45. Australia. 7 June 2004. ABC. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
↑ Grams, Erika. "Sam Neill– FAQ". Ibiblio.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
↑ "Nigel, Neville??". Lexigame.com. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
↑ "New Year honours list 2007". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
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