About Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (14 September 1947 – 13 July 2026) was a New Zealand actor. Known as a leading man in numerous roles in film and television, he first achieved recognition with his appearance in the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), followed by a leading role in My Brilliant Career (1979). He continued to have roles as his star kept rising in such films as The Final Conflict (1981), Possession (1981), Evil Angels (1988), Dead Calm (1989), Death in Brunswick (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Until the End of the World (1991), The Piano (1993), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), Event Horizon (1997), The Dish (2000) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). He came to international prominence as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), a role he reprised in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). On television, he portrayed Merlin in the miniseries Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), the former of which earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award. He was also Golden Globe-nominated for playing historic spy Sidney Reilly in Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983) and a British officer during World War II in One Against the Wind (1991). In addition, he played Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors (2007) and Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders (2013–2014). He was also known for narrating various documentary projects. He received numerous awards for his acting, and received nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours for services as an actor. He also stated, "I kind of outgrew it you can still detect me as a stammerer." Neill's first film was a New Zealand television film The City of No (1971). Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), the first local film to be widely screened overseas. He also starred as the eponymous character Merlin in Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), and as Major Chester Campbell in the first two series of Peaky Blinders (2013–2014). He won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor at the 2023 Logies.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.