Actor Sam Neill’s cause of death was pneumonia, his longtime representative and friend Philip Grenz has confirmed.

The New Zealand-born star of films such as Jurassic Park, The Piano and My Brilliant Career died on Monday at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.

A post on social media at the time said the loss was “sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free”, adding that more details would be shared later.

Since then there has speculation about the 78-year-old’s actual cause of death, including what Grenz described as “inaccuracies and outright falsehoods”.

“As Sam Neill’s longtime rep, I spoke with his family and wish to clarify some details for his fans,” the agent said in a statement on Thursday.

“Sam passed away from pneumonia.

“Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy.”

Grenz had posted his own tribute to Neil earlier in the week, describing him as “a great actor, a great friend, and a great man” who would be missed by “film lovers, wine lovers, and anyone lucky enough to have met him”.

“I am heartbroken by the loss but grateful for the 19 year journey.”

 

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Grenz said on Thursday that Neill was “an intensely private man who loathed a fuss”, and that the actor’s family would honour him with a private memorial at his New Zealand farm at a later date.

His statement about the cause of death confirms comments made previously by Kiwi actor Rima Te Wiata, Neill’s friend and co-star in the comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople, who revealed that he was recently sick with pneumonia.

“It really sucks actually,” Te Wiata told The New Zealand Herald’s live show Ryan Bridge TODAY.

“As he said in the press once, he’s not scared of death but he would be annoyed. He would be like, ‘Oh for goodness sake I just got over my cancer and now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?

“But he’s on his big journey now.”

Neill’s ex-partner Laura Tingle – who dated him for several years from 2018 and remained friends with the actor – also said in an interview that he had been “pretty sick” for the past couple of weeks before his death.

The journalist said his immune system had been compromised by the treatment he had received for a rare, aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

“His poor old body just sort of got a bit exhausted,” Tingle told ABC Radio Sydney.

Friends and colleagues from around the world have this week paid tribute to Neill, who was known for a range of roles – including in TV series Peaky Blinders, Apples Never Fall and The Twelve – and was also a vintner in New Zealand.

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

“In addition to running his award-winning winery, Two Paddocks, Sam had filmed four projects back-to-back during the past year, all of which will be released within the coming months,” Grenz said.