<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Sam Neill (September 14, 1947 Tyrone, Northern Ireland - ) is an New Zealand actor born in Northern Ireland. Although he is best known to genre fans as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the Jurassic Park movies, Neill has appeared in a several different genre roles. Early in his career, he starred as the adult Damien Thorne in The Final Conflict (the last of the original The Omen series). He was a Saturn Award nominee for his work in The Triangle (miniseries) and Golden Globe and Emmy nominated for his starring role in the Merlin miniseries.

Neill grew up on South Island, New Zeland and he attended boarding school and later university at Canterbury and Victoria. He earned his BA in English Literature and went on to work with the New Zealand Players and other theatre groups. In addition to his work as an actor, Neill has also edited, directed and wrote scripts for the New Zealand National Film Unit.

Neill made his feature film debut in the action thriller, Sleeping Dogs. While acting in Australia, he was noticed by British actor James Mason who played a significant role in his casting in the lead role in the 1981 film, The Final Conflict. Neill moved to England and took on the role of Sidney Reilly in the mini series Reilly: Ace of Spies.

After roles in Strong Medicine, Leap of Faith, Dead Calm alongside Nicole Kidman, The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin and Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and the Oscar-winning The Piano, Neill took on the role of Dr. Alan Grant, in Jurassic Park. The film proved hugely popular, launching two sequels.

Among Neill's other notable roles are The Jungle Book, In the Mouth of Madness, Snow White: A Tale of Terror , Event Horizon, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man , Jurassic Park III, Doctor Zhivago, Wimbeldon, Little Fish, The Triangle, and the 2007 TV drama series, The Tudors.

In 2008, Neill appears in the miniseries, iron Road, the Australian thriller How to Change in 9 Weeks, the Aouth African apartheid set Skin with Sophie Okonedo and Alice Krige, vampire horror film Daybreakers with Ethan Hawke and Wilhelm Dafoe, and the scifi thriller Telepathy with Cillian Murphy and Miranda Richardson.

External Links

• Sam Neill at IMDB.com
• Upcoming TV Schedule by IMDB.com

To see specific information, such as individual movies, please click the Sam Neill category link at the bottom of this article. To see other articles that reference Sam Neill, please click the What Links Here tool in the toolbox at the bottom of this page.