The actor Sam Neill, known for his roles in the Jurassic Park films, has died aged 78.
His family says "the loss was sudden and unexpected", adding he died in Sydney "surrounded by family, and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life".
Neill was born in Northern Ireland and moved to New Zealand as a child.
He played Dr Alan Grant in the first Jurassic Park in 1993, and in later films in the franchise.
He was also well known for his roles in The Piano, The Hunt For Red October and Event Horizon.
In 2023 Neill disclosed that he had been diagnosed with cancer, but in April of this year he revealed that he was cancer free.
However, in April of this year, he announced to the media that he was cancer free after undergoing CAR-T cell (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell) therapy.
"We’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing," Neill told Australian outlet 7 News.
In the statement from the actor's family, they confirm that Neill "remained cancer free", describing his death as "sudden and unexpected".
While Sam Neill is known as one of New-Zealand's best known actors, his roots lie in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Neill's New-Zealander father was stationed in Omagh as an officer with the Irish Guards when Neill was born in 1947.
"I was born in Omagh, we lived in Armagh and my favourite place here was Tyrella beach, I sort of think that's where I grew up," Neill told the BBC in 2012.
He lived in Northern Ireland until he was seven, when he and his family moved to New Zealand - however Neill returned to his roots when cast as a Belfast police chief in BBC's Peaky Blinders in 2013.
At the time, Neill said his Northern Ireland accent had been "well beaten out" of him by classmates in New-Zealand, and that he had to get help from friends and fellow actors James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson to re-learn it for the role.
