Sam Neill
New Zealander · 78 years old · Died 23 May 2026
Actor — Jurassic Park, The Piano, Peaky Blinders
Cause of death
Pneumonia
Sam Neill was a beloved New Zealand-born actor best known for playing palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and its sequels. His career spanned over four decades with roles in The Piano, The Hunt for Red October, and Peaky Blinders. In 2022, he revealed he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and described his treatment in his memoir "Did I Ever Tell You This?" He died at 78 from pneumonia.
How common is lower respiratory infections?
Sam Neill died of pneumonia. Globally, lower respiratory infections kills 2,600,000 people every year — that is 7,123 per day, or roughly one person every 12 seconds. It accounts for 4% of all deaths worldwide.
Deaths / year
2,600,000
Deaths / day
7,123
Deaths / hour
297
Deaths / second
0.08
Share of all global deaths
Risk factors for lower respiratory infections
Since Sam Neill died
Live count since 23 May 2026
Total deaths worldwide since then
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Deaths from same cause since then
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