Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor who brought gravitas to everything from dinosaurs to pianos, has died at 78. His death was announced Monday via Instagram, with no cause given - though Neill had recently declared himself cancer-free after a 2022 diagnosis of stage three angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer that he'd been treating with monthly chemo under a 'four months or it's free' deal with the drug company.

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland, he moved to New Zealand at age 7 and wisely ditched 'Nigel' for 'Sam' at 12, correctly intuiting that 'Nigel Neill' wasn't going to sell many movie tickets. After a catastrophic year studying law, he turned to acting, starting at Canterbury University and then the Downstage Theatre in Wellington, where the pay was $35 a week plus leftover audience dinner scraps.

His breakout came in 1977's Sleeping Dogs, the first Kiwi film to open in the US. From there, he racked up over 150 credits across five decades: My Brilliant Career, Omen III, Possession, Evil Angels, The Hunt for Red October, and - most famously - 1993's one-two punch of The Piano and Jurassic Park. (Fun fact: the role of Dr. Alan Grant was originally offered to Harrison Ford, which means we almost had 'Han Solo fights dinosaurs' instead of 'paleontologist with a hat.') He reprised Grant in Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World Dominion, because dinosaurs are a commitment.

Neill also played memorable villains (Event Horizon, Peaky Blinders), romantic leads (Dead Calm, The Dish), and cult classics (In the Mouth of Madness). He screen-tested for James Bond in 1986 but lost to Timothy Dalton - a loss that probably saved him from a lifetime of shaken martinis. He starred in Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, leading to cameos in Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder. On TV, he was the corrupt Maj Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders and appeared in The Simpsons and Rick and Morty.

Off-screen, Neill ran a farm and winery called Two Paddocks in Central Otago, which he described as 'a ridiculously time- and money-consuming business' that got him 'pissed once in a while.' He named his animals after colleagues: Laura Dern (chicken), Kylie Minogue (duck), and Helena Bonham Carter (cow). In 2023, he published a memoir, Did I Ever Tell You About This?, revealing his cancer battle and his unretirement stance: 'I'm not afraid to die, but it would annoy me.'

He was appointed an OBE in 1991 and a knight in 2022, gaining the title 'Sir' - which, let's be honest, suits 'Sir Sam' way better than 'Sir Nigel.' He is survived by four children, eight grandchildren, and a legacy of being the guy you'd trust to lead you through a dinosaur park or a haunted spaceship.