Sam Neill was actually born Nigel John Dermot Neill in the town of Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland in September 1947. He is the second of three children. His father was a Major with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and Sam grew up attending Irish schools and speaking with an Irish Accent. In 1954, when Sam was aged 6 or 7, the entire family relocated back to Dermot Neill's home country of New Zealand and settled into Dunedin, which has long been regarded as a city of Brewers.
At school in Dunedin, Sam had a lot of trouble with stuttering. As a result he tended to keep to himself and avoid others. There were also a lot of boys named Nigel at his school, and it was considered a feminine kind of name, so at the young age of 10 years old, Nigel decided that he would prefer to known as Sam from that time on. It differentiated him from all the other Nigels on the school playground. He has been using the name of Sam ever since.
At age 13 Neill was sent off to Christ's College, an independent (private) Anglican Boys school in Christchurch. He completed his high school years there as a boarder, and later attended both Canterbury University, also in Christchurch, and Victoria University in Wellington, from which he graduated with a degree in English Literature.
After graduation, Neill eventually gained a job with the New Zealand National Film Unit [1] which effectively made films about NZ for tourism and publicity. Most actors tend to work in front of the camera first before moving to work and direct from behind the camera. Neill did this in reverse. He learned how to direct documentaries, before he got into acting. One of the documentaries that Neill made in 1977 is called Flare. It's about skiing in New Zealand, particularly about the new variation of skiing called Freestyle Skiing. You can watch the documentary online.
Sam Neill's big break as an actor came in the New Zealand movie Sleeping Dogs in 1977 and later the Australian movie, My Brilliant Career in 1979. Then he managed to break into Hollywood in the 1981 horror movie Omen 3, The Final Conflict. Neill has been able to easily move between acting in movies and in television ever since. During the 1980's he starred in TV miniseries such as Reilly Ace of Spies, Kane and Abel, and Amerika, as well as in movies such as Robbery Under Arms, Plenty (opposite Meryl Streep), A Cry in the Dark (also with Meryl Streep) and Dead Calm (with Nicole Kidman).
Neill dived back into the Hollywood scene which he did in style, playing a supporting role to Sean Connery in the Hunt for Red October which was released in 1990. 1993 was a busy year for Neill. He starred in 3 major movies. The Piano which won Oscars for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay; The Rainbow Warrior which tells the story of the ONLY bombing ever to occur on New Zealand soil, and which was done to stop the swell of support against French Nuclear Testing in the Pacific; and lastly the most successful movie of its decade, Jurassic Park.
While The Piano won accolades for the Actresses Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin, Sam Neill has thus far, NEVER been nominated for an Oscar. While he has been nominated for Golden Globes, he has never won a Golden Globe.
Later roles for Neill included King Charles II in Restoration (1995), a Supporting role in Robert Redfords movie The Horse Whisperer (1998), the lead role of Merlin in the 1998 TV miniseries and one of the owners of Robin William's robot, Andrew in the 1999 movie, Bicentennial Man.
Since the year 2000, Neill has been acting mostly in TV series and mini-series, and fewer commercial Hollywood movies.
In his personal life, Neill has a son through his relationship with Lisa Harrow who co-starred with him in Omen 3. Lisa and Sam were never married. Sam also has a daughter by his wife Noriko whom he met on the set of Dead Calm. They were married in 1989. Like Neill, Noriko also had a child by a previous relationship, who is now Neill's step daughter. He also became a grandfather in 2013.
Neill has homes in Sydney (Australia), Queenstown (NZ) and in London (UK) and Los Angeles (USA). He holds both British and New Zealand Citizenship. He also owns and manages a vineyard near Queenstown, which produces and sells Pinot Noir wines under the brand name of Two Paddocks.
31 March 2023 - Sam Neill's Autobiography - Did I Ever Tell You This? - published by Text Publishing on 21 March 2023
10 May 2023 - A comment from the Memoir - Did I Ever Tell You This?" which says that Sam's second middle name is pronounced Dermot, but was actually spelled DIARMID which is the Irish spelling. But without sighting a birth or death certificate, I have no proof at this time. (I read this book in May 2023 and thoroughly enjoyed it - Robynne Lozier)