SAM NEILL

'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''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Acting career

Personal life

Filmography

Television

Films

References

External links

Biography

Early life

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,^[2] 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.

Acting career

After working at the New Zealand National Film Unit as a director and actor, Neill was cast as the lead in the New Zealand film ''Sleeping Dogs''. Following this he appeared in the Australian classic, ''My Brilliant Career'' (1979), opposite Judy Davis.
This appearance led to his being selected to play Damien Thorn in '' in 1981, one of the sequels to ''The Omen''. In the late-1970s his mentor was the notable British actor James Mason.
After Roger Moore made his last James Bond movie in 1985, Neill was seriously considered for the role in ''The Living Daylights''. He impressed people with his screen test and was the preferred choice of director John Glen. However, Cubby Broccoli was not as impressed by Neill, and the role eventually went to Timothy Dalton instead. Since then, Neill has played heroes and villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he became well-known in the early-1980s, starring in dramas such as ''Ivanhoe'' and notably in the title role of ''Reilly, Ace of Spies''.
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.

Personal life

Neill resides in Sydney, Australia and has one son, Tim (born in 1983), by New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow, and one daughter, Elena (born in 1990), by makeup artist Noriko Watanabe, whom he married in 1989. He is a supporter of the Australian Speak Easy Association and the British Stammering Association (BSA). Neill also supports the Australian Labor Party, Greenpeace, OxFam, and the World Wildlife Fund. He is a patron of the National Performance Conference. He also donated a pair of jeans to the Jeans for Genes® auction; they were painted by artist Merv Moriarty and auctioned off in August 1998.
He is the owner of the Two Paddocks winery in Central Otago.
Neill is friends with New Zealand musicians Neil Finn and Tim Finn (of Crowded House and Split Enz) and with Australian musician Jimmy Barnes.

Filmography

Television

★ ''Ivanhoe'' (1982)

★ ''Reilly, Ace of Spies'' (1983)

★ ''Kane and Abel'' (1985)

★ ''Amerika (TV miniseries)'' (1987)

★ ''Simpsons episode 1F09 - "Homer the Vigilante" as Molloy the Cat Burglar (1994)

★ ''In Cold Blood'' (1996)

★ ''Space'' (2001)

★ ''Doctor Zhivago'' (2002)

★ ''Framed'' (2002)

★ ''Stiff'' (2004)

★ ''Jessica'' (2004)

★ ''To the Ends of the Earth'' (2005)

★ ''The Triangle'' (2005)

★ ''Two Twisted'' (2006)

★ ''The Tudors'' (2007)

Films

★ ''Sleeping Dogs'' (1977)

★ ''My Brilliant Career'' (1979)

★ '' (1981)

★ ''Possession'' (1981)

★ ''Attack Force Z'' (1982)

★ ''Enigma'' (1983)

★ ''Plenty'' (1985)

★ ''The Good Wife'' (1987)

★ ''A Cry in the Dark'' (1988)

★ ''Dead Calm'' (1989)

★ ''Blood Oath'' (1990; a.k.a. ''Prisoners of the Sun'')

★ ''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990)

★ ''Death in Brunswick'' (1991)

★ ''Until the End of the World'' (1991)

★ ''Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

★ ''The Piano'' (1993)

★ ''Jurassic Park'' (1993)

★ ''Country Life'' (1994)

★ ''Sirens'' (1994)

★ ''Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill'' (1995)

★ ''In the Mouth of Madness'' (1995)

★ ''Restoration'' (1995)

★ ''Children of the Revolution'' (1996)

★ ''Event Horizon'' (1997)

★ ''Merlin'' (1998)

★ ''The Horse Whisperer'' (1998)

★ ''Bicentennial Man'' (1999)

★ ''The Dish'' (2000)

★ ''My Mother Frank'' (2000)

★ '' (2000)

★ ''Jurassic Park III'' (2001)

★ ''The Zookeeper'' (2001)

★ ''Dirty Deeds'' (2002)

★ ''Perfect Strangers'' (2003)

★ ''Yes'' (2004)

★ ''Wimbledon'' (2004)

★ ''Little Fish'' (2005)

★ ''Irresistible'' (2006)

★ ''Merlin's Apprentice'' (2006)

★ ''Daybreakers'' (2008)

★ ''Jurassic Park IV'' (2008)

References

1. http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/snfaq.html#1.2
2. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=341&ObjectID=10353801

External links

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★ Biography at Yahoo Movies

★ Biography at Tiscali UK

★ Two Paddocks official website