Jurassic Park star Sam Neill suffered from pneumonia before his 'unexpected' death
Jurassic Park star Sam Neill suffered from pneumonia before his 'unexpected' death
Chiara Fiorillo & Sam Elliott-GibbsTue, July 14, 2026 at 10:39 AM UTC
0
Sam Neill passed away on Monday -Credit:Getty Images for AFI
Hollywood icon Sam Neill died after contracting pneumonia, according to a close friend and former co-star.
The Jurassic Park star died on Monday, just months after being declared "cancer-free" following his battle with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. Those closest to him described his death as "sudden and unexpected" - and a new report now suggests the 78-year-old died after a bout of pneumonia, after being left physically weakened by his grueling cancer treatments.
While no official cause of death has been confirmed, his passing comes just months after Sam announced in April that he had beaten the disease, having been diagnosed with blood cancer four years prior. Pneumonia, an infection that causes inflammation of lung tissue, can severely impact breathing and, in critical cases, prove fatal by cutting off the body's air supply. Tributes have been pouring in for Sam.
• Fox News viewers turn on Trump citing ‘more insanity’ over Lindsey Graham replacement
• Rapper launches lawsuit after 'paying $600K' for Trump pardon that never came
New Zealand Herald reporter Ryan Bridge cited Sam's The Hunt for the Wilderpeople co-star and longtime friend Rima Te Wiata as confirming that the beloved actor had die d after contracting the deadly lung condition. Sam's former partner Laura Tingle spoke to ABC Radio Sydney, revealing the actor's immune system had been compromised, leaving him susceptible to infections.
Advertisement
She said, "[His] poor old body just sort of got a bit exhausted. He's been pretty sick for the last couple of weeks, and everybody who loved him has been willing him on from near and far, but I think it was just a bit too much to recover from one more time.
It has been claimed that he had pneumonia -Credit:Manuel Romano/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
"He'd had a lot of chemo and a lot of immunotherapy and, thankfully, it finally cleared him of the blood cancer that he had, but that left him pretty compromised in terms of his immune system."
The news of Sam's passing was confirmed by his family through a statement shared on his social media accounts, which read, "It is with immense sadness that the whanau [family] of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia.
"Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care.
The actor was known for starring in Jurassic Park -Credit:Amblin/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
“More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss." Fans paid tribute to the actor in the comments.
"Such a good human, I shall put my dinosaurs out for him and open a nice wine. Thanks for being you Sam," one person wrote, as another fan said, "This is devastating. I really wish this was not true. Love to family."
The acclaimed actor received his diagnosis of stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in 2022 - a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma - after noticing swollen glands. The devastating news of his stage-three blood cancer emerged while he was actively promoting Jurassic World Dominion.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
