Sam Neill

PHOTO GALLERY
Date of Birth : Sep 14th 1947

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 Jurassic Park IV. Neil also appeared in Merlin (1998), a film based on the legend of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake, portraying the ledgendary wizard. He also reprised his role as Merlin in the film’s not-so-well receieved sequel, Merlin’s Apprentice (2006), in which Merlin learns he fathered a son with the evil witch, Mab.