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| Birth Name(s) : Nigel John Dermot Neill |
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Full Sam Neill Biography
Sam Neill, DCNZM, OBE (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his role in Reilly, Ace of Spies and playing paleontologist Doctor Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. Most recently he is in a Showtime production of The Tudors as Cardinal Wolsey.
Neill was born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Omagh, 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. At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland. The family were the owners of Neill and Co., the largest liquor retailers in New Zealand.
Neill returned with his family to New Zealand in 1954, 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 got his first exposure to acting. While at Canterbury University he resided at College House, where he held the position of Chief Castigator and Crime Crusher (CCACC). He then moved to Wellington to continue his tertiary education at the Victoria University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.
Neill is known for his leading and co-starring roles in major films including Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), Sirens (1994), Jurassic Park (1993), Event Horizon (1997), The Dish (2000) and Jurassic Park 3 (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. Neill was asked to play the role of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson, but turned it down because of his contractual obligations to another film, namely, Jurassic Park III (2001). He hosted and narrated a series of 2002 documentaries for BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States). He is currently starring in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Wolsey, on the Showtime Network.
In 2006, Neill also lent his voice to a series of radio ads for Fifth Third Bank in the midwestern U.S.
Neill has said that he has not yet been asked to reprise his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the possible 2008 movie, Jurassic Park IV. Neil also appeared in Merlin (1998), a film based on the legend of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake, portraying the ledgendary wizard. He also reprised his role as Merlin in the film's not-so-well receieved sequel, Merlin's Apprentice (2006), in which Merlin learns he fathered a son with the evil witch, Mab.
Neill is friends with New Zealand musicians Neil Finn and Tim Finn (of Crowded House and Split Enz) and with Australian musician Jimmy Barnes. |
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