Sam Neill Movies and Career Information

Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE (born 14 September 1947) is an Irish/New Zealand actor. He is perhaps best known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. He has also had a number of high-profile roles including: the lead in Reilly, Ace of Spies, the adult Damien in Omen III: The Final Conflict, Merlin in the miniseries Merlin, Captain Vasily Borodin in The Hunt for Red October, Lord Friedrich Hoffman in Snow White: A Tale of Terror, and Alisdair Stewart in The Piano. Most recently he played Cardinal Wolsey in the Peace Arch Entertainment production for Showtime, The Tudors. Neill was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, 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, serving with the Irish Guards. The family owned 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