A native of Omagh, Northern Ireland, Sam Neill was born Sept. 14, 1947, and moved to New Zealand as a youngster. He worked in theater groups before landing in films, first drawing attention in My Brilliant Career (1979) and showing his dramatic scope playing Satan's scion in Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981).The gifted actor gained further notice as the title character in the British TV series "Reilly: Ace of Spies" and with his appearance in the American miniseries "Kane & Abel" (1985). Neill delivered a memorable turn in the Aussie thriller Dead Calm (1989) and solidified his fame in 1993 with roles in The Piano and Jurassic Park (reprising the part in 2001's Jurassic Park III).
Among Neill's other big-screen credits are Bicentennial Man (1999) and The Dish (2000). He earned Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations for his performance in the 1998 miniseries "Merlin."
Sally Hemings: An American ScandalThis Hallmark television miniseries explores the complicated relationship between former president Thomas Jefferson (Sam Neill) and his slave Sally Hemings (Carmen Ejogo), who maintained a lifelong affair even after Hemings received her freedom at age 16. Spanning several decades, the couple's... Read More
Jurassic Park IIIIn need of funds for research, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) accepts a large sum of money to accompany Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) on an aerial tour of the infamous Isla Sorna. It isn't long before all hell breaks loose and the stranded wayfarers must fight for survival as a... Read More
The DishIn this comedy based on real events, a small sheepherding village in Australia is thrust into the spotlight when NASA employs its massive satellite radio dish to serve as a backup transmitter for the 1969 Apollo 11 moon mission. But when a change in the spacecraft's schedule puts the primary... Read More
Molokai: The Story of Father DamienIn 19th-century Hawaii, lepers are exiled to the island of Molokai and left to fend for themselves without any outside assistance -- until a courageous priest named Father Damien (David Wenham) risks his own life to help ease their suffering. Although he's shunned by his church's greedy elders,... Read More
The ZookeeperSam Neill stars as Jonah Ludovic, a solitary man living out an unstated but remorseful destiny in a city that is steadily being ground up by civil war, artillery bombardments and mass evacuations. Rather than leave the city, Ludovic continues to go to his job at the local zoo -- staying on long... Read More
