Nigel Neill, now professionally known as Sam Neill, born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland is a New Zealand actor who first appeared in leading roles in the film Omen III: The Final Conflict and Dead Calm. He also appeared in the television series Reilly: The Ace of Spies. He was born on the 14th of September 1947. His parents Priscilla Beatrice (mother) and Dermot Neill (father) worked for the army.
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His family moved to the South Island of New Zealand in 1954 where he went to boarding school and later received his tertiary education atthe Universities of Canterbury and Victoria. He graduated with a BA in English literature and started working with the New Zealand players and various other theatre groups. Sam Neill was also a film director, editor and scriptwriter for the New Zealand National film unit, where he worked for 6 years.
Sam Neill’s present wife is Noriko Watanabemarried 2 September 1989. They have one daughter called Miako, from Noriko’s first marriage. He was previously married to Lisa Harrow, and they have one daughter together called Elena Neill and a son, Tim Neill. He has 3 children. Sam Neill met his current wife on the set of Dead Calm in 1989 where she was working as a make-up artist.
He has homes situated in Beverly Hills, Sydney as well as New Zealand, and owns a winery in the central Otago region of New Zealand called Two Paddocks, started in 1993. Neill is very passionate about Two Paddock and considers running it to be his hobby. He lives in Queenstown near his winery, in the region of New Zealand’s South Island. Sam supports the Australian Speak Easy Association and the British Stammering Association due to history with stuttering as a child. He is also in support of the New Zealand and Australian Labour Party. He generously donated a pair of jeans painted by artists Merv Moriarty to be auctioned at the National Performance conference genes auction in August 1998.
He is well known for his role in Jurassic Park and the academy award winning film The Piano. Other movies and tv shows he acted in include: The Daughter, Backtrack, Deux Ex Machina, F2014, A Long Way Down, The Tomb, The Hunter with Willem Dafoe, Daybreakers, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls Of G'Ahoole, Little Fish, Yes, Dean Spanley, Skin, The Zookeepers, Perfect Strangers, Wimbledon, Dirty Deeds, Bicenntial Man, Sleeping Dogs and My Brilliant Career.
Sam Neill received Emmy and Golden globe nominations for the NBC miniseries Merlin, as well as received a Golden Globe nomination for One Against the Wind and the television series Reilly, for which he also received best actor. A best actor award was also given to him for his role in Jessica. His more recent roles have been in Merlin, The Hunt for Red October and The Tudors. In 2016 he starred in the Hunt for the wilderpeople. Sam Neill has an estimated net worth of $12 million as of 2017.
Last Modified: Apr 5, 2020
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