Actor Sam Neill has died, his family has confirmed in a sad update on social media.

“It is with immense sadness that the whānau (family) of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia,” the note on Instagram on Monday afternoon read.

“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life.”

New Zealand-based Neill, the star of My Brilliant Career and Jurassic Park, was 78.

“The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free. They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care,” the family statement said.

“More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”

Neill’s sudden death came just months after he had announced he was cancer free, four years after he was diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in 2022, after experiencing swollen glands while doing publicity for Jurassic World: Dominion.

Neill revealed his diagnosis a year later in his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?. He later spoke candidly about his grim survival prospects, and attributed his recovery to CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically modifies blood cells.

“I’m not afraid to die, but it would annoy me,” he said.

“Because I’d really like another decade or two, you know? We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses. I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big. But as for the dying? I couldn’t care less.”

He later revealed that chemotherapy had stopped working, leaving him at a loss until the CAR T-cell therapy.

“I’ve just had a scan just now and there is no cancer in my body, that’s an extraordinary thing,” he said. “I’m very, very excited that this can happen.”

Neill, whose first name is Nigel, was born in Northern Ireland on September 14, 1947. His family moved to New Zealand when he was eight.

He first made his name with Australian audiences in the critically acclaimed My Brilliant Career alongside Judy Davis.

He went on to star in dozens of movies including Hunt for Red October, The Dish and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, as well as roles in television series Peaky Blinders, The Twelve and The Tudors.

Despite his diagnosis and subsequent treatment, Neill continued to build on his enviable body of work in recent years, including the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and The Last Resort.

In recent years, Neill spent most of his downtime on his vineyard in the far south of New Zealand’s South Island.

He is survived by four children and eight grandchildren.

-with AAP