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Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor.
He has had a number of high-profile roles including: the lead in Reilly, Ace of Spies, the adult Damien in Omen III: The Final Conflict, Merlin in the miniseries Merlin, the executive officer, Capt 2nd Class Vasily Borodin in The Hunt for Red October, Lord Friedrich Hoffman in Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Alisdair Stewart in The Piano, and paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III.
Most recently he played Cardinal Wolsey in the Peace Arch Entertainment production for Showtime, The Tudors.
l was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the second son of Dermot Neill, a Harrow and Sandhurst-educated army officer and third generation New Zealander, and his English wife, Priscilla.
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Quotations
As much as possible, I try to encourage people to use stunt men because that is really their job.
I'm not big on champagne, but I'd take along a bottle of Cristal to pop for when the boat comes to the rescue.
I've worked all my life to shed myself of any character.
There's part of me that loves travelling. And there's part of me that just loves staying home. It's a double-edged sword.
When I started in films, it never really occurred to me that I could make a career out of acting.
I can tell you where I was when Kennedy was shot - which was in the common room at school. I heard about it on the old valve radio. At the time of Armstrong's landing, I was at university rehearsing a play.
Encyclopedia
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor.
He has had a number of high-profile roles including: the lead in Reilly, Ace of Spies, the adult Damien in Omen III: The Final Conflict, Merlin in the miniseries Merlin, the executive officer, Capt 2nd Class Vasily Borodin in The Hunt for Red October, Lord Friedrich Hoffman in Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Alisdair Stewart in The Piano, and paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III.
Most recently he played Cardinal Wolsey in the Peace Arch Entertainment production for Showtime, The Tudors.
Biography
Early life
Neill was born in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the second son of Dermot Neill, a Harrow and Sandhurst-educated army officer and third generation New Zealander, and his English wife, Priscilla. At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving with the Irish Guards. The family were the owners of Neill and Co., the largest liquor retailers in New Zealand.
Neill returned with his family to New Zealand in 1954, where he attended the Anglican boys' boarding school Christ's College, in Christchurch. He then went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury, where he got his first exposure to acting. While at Canterbury University he resided at College House, where he held the position of Chief Castigator and Crime Crusher (CCACC). He then moved to Wellington to continue his tertiary education at the Victoria University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.
He first took to calling himself "Sam", in school in New Zealand where there were other Nigels, and the phrases "a real Nigel" and "Nigel No-mates" were commonly used to refer to a sad loner.
Acting career
After working at the New Zealand National Film Unit as a director and actor, Neill was cast as the lead in the New Zealand film Sleeping Dogs. Following this he appeared in the Australian classic, My Brilliant Career (1979), opposite Judy Davis.
This appearance led to his being selected to play Damien Thorn in Omen III: The Final Conflict in 1981, one of the sequels to The Omen. In the late-1970s his mentor was the notable British actor James Mason.
After Roger Moore made his last James Bond movie in 1985, Neill was seriously considered for the role in The Living Daylights. He impressed people with his screen test and was the preferred choice of director John Glen. However, Cubby Broccoli was not as impressed by Neill, and the role eventually went to Timothy Dalton instead. Since then, Neill has played heroes and villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he became well-known in the early-1980s, starring in dramas such as Ivanhoe and notably in the title role of Reilly, Ace of Spies.
Neill is known for his leading and co-starring roles in major films including Dead Calm (1989), La révolution française (1989) playing the famous Lafayette, The Hunt for Red October (1990), Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992), The Piano (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), Sirens (1994), Event Horizon (1997), The Dish (2000), and Jurassic Park 3 (2001). In Hunt for Red October, Neill uttered the film's most memorable line: "I would like to have seen Montana," as the dying Vasily Borodin.
The film Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995) was written and directed by Sam Neill and Judy Rymer. In it Neill narrated his personal recollection of New Zealand film history.
Neill was asked to play the role of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson, but turned it down because of his contractual obligations to another film, namely, Jurassic Park III (2001). He hosted and narrated a series of 2002 documentaries for BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States).
In 2006, Neill also lent his voice to a series of radio ads for Fifth Third Bank in the midwestern U.S.
Neil also appeared in Merlin (1998), a film based on the legend of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake, portraying the legendary wizard. He also reprised his role as Merlin in the film's not-so-well received sequel, Merlin's Apprentice (2006), in which Merlin learns he fathered a son with the Lady of the Lake.
He is currently starring in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Wolsey, on the Showtime Network. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", Neill said. “It was six months with a character that I found immensely intriguing, with a cast that I liked very much and with a story I found very compelling. It has elements that are hard to beat — revenge and betrayal, lust and treason, all the things that make for good stories."
Neill has said that he has not yet been asked to reprise his role as Dr. Alan Grant in the possible 2009 movie, Jurassic Park IV.
Personal life
Neill resides in Sydney, Australia and has one son, Tim (born in 1983), by New Zealand actress Lisa Harrow, and one daughter, Elena (born in 1990), by makeup artist Noriko Watanabe, whom he married in 1989. He also has a stepdaughter, Maiko Spencer, (born 1981) who is from Noriko Watanabe's first marriage. He is a supporter of the Australian Speak Easy Association and the British Stammering Association (BSA). Neill also supports the Australian Labor Party, Greenpeace, Oxfam, and the World Wildlife Fund. He is a patron of the National Performance Conference. He also donated a pair of jeans to the Jeans for Genes auction; they were painted by artist Merv Moriarty and auctioned off in August 1998.
Neill's hobby is running a vineyard, the Two Paddocks winery in Central Otago on New Zealand's South Island. "I’d like the vineyard to support me but I’m afraid it is the other way round. It is not a very economic business", say Neill. "It is a ridiculously time and money-consuming business. I would not do it if it was not so satisfying and fun — and it gets me pissed once in awhile."
Neill is friends with New Zealand musicians Neil Finn and Tim Finn (of Crowded House and Split Enz) and with Australian musician Jimmy Barnes.
Films
Television
Awards
Emmy Awards:
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for: "Merlin" (1998)
Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: "Merlin" (1998)
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: "One Against the Wind"
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for: "Reilly: Ace of Spies" (1983)
Personal quotes
"Of all the characters I've played, I think I have more in common with that guy than with "Reilly: Ace of Spies" (1983) (mini) referring to Carl Fitzgerald in Death in Brunswick (1991). Who Weekly (NZ) 8/23/93.
Referring to the Simpsons: "I'm playing a cat burglar. I've made it. This is the high point of my career. I'm really chuffed." EW, 7/23/93.
"Perhaps we should look at somewhere else where they recently used the time-old bribe of tax cuts, and see how it worked. In 2000, George W. Bush, under the reasonable sounding 'compassionate conservatism', offered huge tax cuts. And he delivered. Take a look at America now. The rich are certainly richer, but the economy is in the tank, a healthy surplus has been converted into a massive deficit, and the U.S. is a place that cannot even afford the basics. Like maintaining levees in low-lying Louisiana. Might I suggest that tax cuts led indirectly to the flooding of New Orleans?"
"If all I did was acting, I'd go out of my mind."
"The pathetic thing about actors is they don't feel valid unless they're acting."
"I got an Irish passport the other day. I love it. It's the best thing in my pocket." The Irish Times, 12/13/2008.
External links
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- on ScreenTalk, a section of NZ On Screen. Also available is a and links to ]. (Requires Flash)
- Sam Neill
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