Tuesday, July 14, 2026

A02107 - Takuan Soho, Seventeenth Century Japanese Buddhist Prelate Who Wrote "The Unfettered Mind"

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Soho, Takuan

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Takuan Sōhō
Portrait of Takuan Sōhō, by Kimura Tokuō, 17th century
TitleRōshi
Personal life
Born24 December 1573
Izushi, Tajima Province, Japan
Died27 January 1645 (aged 71)
Edo, Japan
Religious life
ReligionBuddhism
SchoolRinzai

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"If we walk

"The true Way

"In our inmost heart,

"Even without praying,

"God will be with us!" (04/02/2025)

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"When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others.  When the eye is not set on any one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye. ... The mind that stops or is moved by something and sent into confusion -- this is the affliction of the abiding place."  (09/06/2024)

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"Zen is to have the heart and soul of a little child."  (05/20/2025)

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Takuan Sōhō (born 1573, Tajima province, Japan—died 1645, Shinagawa, near Edo [Tokyo]) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest responsible for the construction of the Tōkai Temple. Takuan was a poet, calligrapher, painter, and master of the tea ceremony; he also fused the art of swordsmanship with Zen ritual, inspiring many swordsmen of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867).

Although little of Takuan’s family background is known, he seems to have been befriended by powerful members of feudal society. By imperial order, he was appointed chief priest at the Daitoku Temple (1607) and later at the Nansō Temple and the Sokyo Temple. In 1620, however, he was exiled to Yamagata prefecture in northern Japan because of differences with government policy.

Quick Facts
Born:
1573, Tajima province, Japan
Died:
1645, Shinagawa, near Edo [Tokyo] (aged 72)
Subjects Of Study:
Zen

During his exile, Takuan busied himself restoring ruined temples and writing his two famous works: the Fudō chishin myōroku (“Ineffable Art of Calmness”), which attempts to show the essential unity of the differing Zen doctrines; and Taia-ki, a work on swordsmanship named after the Taia, a mythical sword said to have been capable of cutting anything. Returning to Edo (now Tokyo) in 1638, he gained the favour of the new shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and was given government support in the building of the Tōkai Temple.

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Takuan Sōhō (沢庵 宗彭; December 24, 1573 – January 27, 1645) was a Japanese Buddhist prelate during the Sengoku and early Edo Periods of Japanese history. He was a major figure in the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Noted for his calligraphy, poetry, and tea ceremony, he is also popularly credited with the invention of the takuan pickled radish.

Biography

Takuan Sōhō was born as the second son of Akiba Tsunanori, a samurai and senior retainer of the Yamana clan in the town of Izushi, in Tajima Province (present-day Toyooka, Hyōgo). When he was eight years old, the Yamana clan were defeated by the forces of Oda Nobunaga led by Hashiba Hideyoshi, making his father a ronin. In 1582 Takuan entered the temple of Shōen-ji in Izushi as an acolyte, and in 1586 he was sent to the temple of Sōkyō-ji, also in Izushi, to further studies. In 1591, Maeno Nagayasu, the lord of Izushi Castle during this period, invited Kaoru Sotada a disciple of Daitoku-ji's Shunoku Sōen to administer Sōkyō-ji and Takuan became his disciple. When Kaoru was transferred back to Daitoku-ji in 1594, Takuan accompanied him to Kyoto. There, he studied also directly under Shunoku Sōen at the temple of Sangen-in. In 1599, when Ishida Mitsunari built a memorial temple for his mother in Sawayama Castle, Shunoku and Takuan relocated to Sawayama and remained into the following year. However, after the fall of the castle subsequent to the Battle of Sekigahara and the death of Ishida Mitsunari, Takuan escaped. He was able to recover the body of the executed Ishida Mitsunari and assisted in his funeral services at Sangen-in in Kyoto. After his mentor, Kaoru Sotada died, Takuan relocated to Sakai in Izumi Province. He took the name of "Takuan" in 1604, having used a number of names up until this point as assigned by various of his teachers.

In 1607, Takuan returned to Daitoku-ji and in 1609 was appointed its 154th head abbot. However, he left after only a few days for a prolonged period of traveling, claiming that he neither sought nor wanted the responsibility. Throughout his journeys, Takuan raised and collected funds for the renovation of Daitoku-ji and other Zen temples. In 1620, he returned to his home town of Izushi where the temple of Sukyo-ji had recently been restored by the new daimyo of Izushi Domain, Koide Yoshihide.

Under the Tokugawa shogunate, the government imposed strict regulations on Buddhist temples, and in the case of influential temples such as Daitoku-ji, sought to weaken or break their relationship with the Imperial Court. In the case of Daitoku-ji in particular, it had been tradition that the priesthood was appointed by imperial decree, but now the shogunate declared that such appointments would need to be approved first by the Shogun in Edo. In what later came to be called the "Purple Robe Incident" (紫衣事件, Shie Jiken), in 1627, Emperor Go-Mizunoo awarded the purple robes of priesthood to senior monks at Daitoku-ji. The shogunate promptly declared this action to be illegal and ordered the Kyoto Shoshidai to confiscate the robes. Takuan, together with the senior priesthood of Daitoku-ji and Myōshin-ji protested this action, and were arrested. They were tried for sedition at Edo Castle in front of Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada and Takuan was banished to Kaminoyama in Dewa Province. In 1632, after the death of Hidetada, a general amnesty was proclaimed. Takuan returned to Daitoku-ji and was received in an audience arranged by Yagyū Munenori and Tenkai in Kyoto by Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was very much impressed by Takuan's intelligence and insights. At Iemitsu's invitation, he returned to Edo, where he gave many lectures to Iemitsu, who eventually rescinded the "Purple Robes decree" in 1641, restoring Daitoku-ji to its original honors. In the meantime, Iemitsu had the temple of Tōkai-ji constructed in Shinagawa at the outskirts of Edo in 1639 especially for Takuan, so that he could draw on Takuan's counsel at any time.

Takuan refused to give Dharma transmission, preferring instead to cut off his line. He felt the Dharma was not something which could be passed on, and thus, did not depend on an unbroken transmission from teacher to disciple.[1] His final instructions were, “I have no disciple who has succeeded to my Dharma [i.e., teaching]. After I am dead, if anyone says he is my heir, that person is a Dharma thief. Report him to the authorities and see that he is punished severely!”[2] According to Haskel, Takuan's view was that "Zen mind exists any time a dedicated practitioner experiences realization, with or without a teacher's sanction and support."[3]

Takuan died in Edo in 1645. In the moments before his death, he wrote the kanji for "dream" (夢, yume), and laid down his brush. He also left behind a will stating that a "tombstone must not be built" and that he should be buried without any ceremony in an unmarked grave. His disciples promptly erected gravestones at the temple of Tōkai-ji (東海寺) and also at the temple of Sukyō-ji (宗鏡寺) in Izushi. His grave at Tōkai-ji was proclaimed a National Historic Site in 1926.[4]

Teachings

Takuan taught that the Right Mind, which he also called the Mind of No-Mind, is not placed anywhere, but rather moves about freely in all directions, and "neither congeals nor fixes itself in one place."[5] For Takuan, for the mind to have some place of abiding and stopping is the mind of delusion and the affliction of abiding in ignorance.[6] According to Takuan, the mind that fixes itself in one place is not able to function freely.[7] For instance, Takuan points out that if the mind is placed in just one direction, it will be lacking in nine others. But if the mind is not placed in any one direction, it will be in all ten simultaneously, or as Takuan says, "Put nowhere, it will be everywhere."[8]

To illustrate this point, Takuan gives the example of gazing upon a tree. He says if, when looking on a tree, the eye is fixed upon a single leaf, then all the other leaves will be as though they were not present at all. But if the eye is not detained by any one leaf, the entire tree with all its leaves will be taken in simultaneously. He likens this ability to that of Avalokiteśvara's with a thousand arms, for whom all thousand arms are simultaneously useful because Avalokiteśvara's mind is not detained by any one of them.[9]

Takuan appeals to this principle to also critique such practices as placing the mind below the navel in concentration. He says, "...viewed from the highest standpoint of Buddhism, putting the mind just below the navel and not allowing it to wander is a low level of understanding, not a high one. [...] If you consider putting your mind below your navel and not letting it wander, your mind will be taken by the mind that thinks of this plan. You will have no ability to move ahead and will be exceptionally unfree."[10]

Takuan taught that one's mind should not be detained by thoughts, for in that case, though one listens, one will not hear; and though one looks, one will not see. On the other hand, Takuan pointed out that to try to remove one's thoughts is to become preoccupied with the thought of removing them. Instead, he says that if one does not think about it, the mind will remove these thoughts on its own and come to the condition of No-Mind by itself.[11]

Legacy

Grave of Takuan at Tōkai-ji

Takuan advised and befriended many people, from all social strata. Some of these included:

Takuan remained largely unaffected by his popularity and famed reputation. Known for his acerbic wit and integrity of character, Takuan exerted himself to bring the spirit of Zen Buddhism to many and diverse aspects of Japanese culture, such as Japanese swordsmanship, gardening, sumi-e, shodo, and sado.

His collected writings total six volumes and over 100 published poems, including his best known treatise, The Unfettered Mind. His influence permeates the work of many present-day exponents of Zen Buddhism and martial arts. He has been credited with the invention of the yellow pickled daikon radish that carries the name "takuan".

Takuan, a pickled daikon radish dish is named after Takuan

Of the three essays included in The Unfettered Mind, two were letters

  • Fudochishinmyoroku, "The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom", written to Yagyū Munenori, head of the Yagyū Shinkage school of swordsmanship and teacher to two generations of shoguns.
  • Taiaki, "Annals of the Sword Taia", written perhaps to Munenori or possibly to Ono Tadaaki, head of the Itto school of swordsmanship and an official instructor to the shogun's family and close retainers.[12]

Takuan's morality has become the object of scathing criticism. Brian D. Victoria in "Zen at War" argues that Takuan is among the chief culprits of Zen Buddhism that created a religion unrecognizable as Buddhist. It is because Takuan repeatedly makes reference to the emptiness of opponents who may be murdered without consequence. Victoria understands Takuan to have transgressed the first grave Buddhist precept of 'Do not kill.' This revisionist view is controversial.[13]

Fictional appearances

He is featured as a character in Vagabond, a manga series, which is largely based on Eiji Yoshikawa's equally successful book, Musashi.

Director/writer Yoshiaki Kawajiri in his popular animated film Ninja Scroll created one of main characters Dakuan as a homage to Takuan Soho.

In director Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy (Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island), Takuan is played by Kuroemon Onoe and is portrayed as the mentor of Miyamoto Musashi.

References

  1.  Letting Go: The Story of Zen Master Tōsui, Translated and with an Introduction by Peter Haskel, pages 25-26, University of Hawai'i Press, 2001
  2.  Letting Go: The Story of Zen Master Tōsui, Translated and with an Introduction by Peter Haskel, page 25, University of Hawai'i Press, 2001
  3.  Peter Haskel. Sword of Zen: Master Takuan and his Writings on Immovable Wisdom and the Sword Taie, page 110. University of Hawai'i Press, 2013.
  4.  "Cultural Heritage Online". Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  5.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, page 22, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  6.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, pages 3-5, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  7.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, page 23, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  8.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, page 21, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  9.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, pages 7-8, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  10.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, page 18, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  11.  Takuan Sōhō, The Unfettered Mind, Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman, translated by William Scott Wilson, pages 23-24, Shambhala Publications, 2012
  12.  Takuan Soho, translated by William Scott Wilson, The Unfettered Mind – Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master, p. 3.
  13.  Heine, S (2007). Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please Stand Up. Oxford University Press. p. 140;167. ISBN 978-0195326772.

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A02106 - Sam Neill, New Zealand Actor Best Known for Jurassic Park Movies

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Sir
Sam Neill
KNZM OBE
Neill in 2010
Born
Nigel John Dermot Neill

14 September 1947
Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Died13 July 2026 (aged 78)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Citizenship
  • New Zealand
  • UK
  • Ireland
Education
Occupations
  • Actor
  • businessman
Years active1970–2026
WorksFull list
Spouse
Noriko Watanabe
​
​
(m. 1989; sep. 2017)​
Children4

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Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (14 September 1947 – 13 July 2026) was a New Zealand actor and businessman. Known as a leading man in film and television, he received nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours for services as an actor.

Born in Northern Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand father, Neill moved to Christchurch with his family in 1954. He first achieved recognition with his appearance in the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), followed by leading roles in My Brilliant Career (1979), The Final Conflict (1981), Possession (1981), Evil Angels (1988), Dead Calm (1989), Death in Brunswick (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Piano (1993), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), Event Horizon (1997), The Dish (2000) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). He came to international prominence as Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993), a role he reprised in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

On television, he portrayed Merlin in the miniseries Merlin (1998) and Merlin's Apprentice (2006), the former of which earned him nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and the Golden Globe Award. He was also Golden Globe-nominated for playing Sidney Reilly in Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983) and a British Officer during World War II in One Against the Wind (1991). He also played Thomas Wolsey in The Tudors (2007), and Major Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders (2013–2014). He was also known for narrating various documentary projects.

Early life, education and early theatre work

Nigel John Dermot Neill was born on 14 September 1947 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, to an English mother, Priscilla Beatrice Ingham, and a New Zealand father, Dermot Neill.[1] As a result, he held three documented nationalities: New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.[2][3] His great-grandfather, Percival "Percy" Neill, the son of a wine merchant who imported wine from France, had left Belfast for Australia, where he joined a firm of merchants in Melbourne, eventually moving to New Zealand and settling in Dunedin in 1863.[4][5][6] At the time of Neill's birth, his father was stationed in Northern Ireland, serving as an officer with the Royal Irish Fusiliers.[7] His father's family owned Neill and Co., later part of the listed hospitality group Wilson Neill.[8][9]

In 1954, the Neill family moved to New Zealand and settled in the Christchurch suburb of Cashmere.[10] Neill attended Cashmere Primary School and Medbury School, a private preparatory school.[11] After a year, his parents and younger sister, Juliet, moved south to his father's home city of Dunedin. They lived at Macandrew Bay, where they were free to roam during the holidays.[12] As a child, Neill had a stammer; during a 2004 interview on the Australian talk show Enough Rope, Andrew Denton briefly discussed this stutter, and Neill recalled how deeply it had affected him and said he often found himself "hoping that people wouldn't talk to [him]" so he would not have to answer, adding "I kind of outgrew it [but] you can still detect me as a stammerer."[13] He began calling himself "Sam" at school because several other boys were named Nigel, and because he felt the name Nigel was "a little effete for ... a New Zealand playground".[13][14][15] From 1961, he attended Christ's College, an Anglican boys' boarding and day school in Christchurch.[10]

He attended the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, but was uncertain about a career, deciding not to follow his father into the army or the family firm. He considered law, but failed all four units in his first year.[16] He appeared in several university productions, including playing Theseus in 1969 in A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Ngaio Marsh for the Canterbury University Drama Society.[17]

Neill acted in the 1970 production by Mervyn Thompson of Marat/Sade,[18] and when an actor withdrew from a Wellington season at the Downstage Theatre, Neill replaced him as Jacques Roux.[19] He described the experience as "the time of [his] life" and observed that the arts were "part of the fabric of the city" unlike in Christchurch or Dunedin.[19] Having relocated to Wellington, he attended Victoria University of Wellington for a year to complete his Bachelor of Arts.[20][21] He played Macbeth in a university production directed by Phillip Mann, then joined Downstage as a professional actor, earning $25 per week plus leftover food from the kitchen after the audience meal.[22]

Screen career

1971–1979: Early work in New Zealand

Stills from Landfall (1974)

Neill's first film was a New Zealand television film The City of No (1971). He followed it with a short, The Water Cycle (1972) and the television film Hunt's Duffer (1973). Neill wrote and directed a film for the New Zealand National Film Unit, Phone (1974).[23] He also appeared in Landfall (1975).[24] Neill's breakthrough performance in New Zealand was the film Sleeping Dogs (1977), the first local film to be widely screened overseas.[25]

Neill went to Australia where he had a guest role on the TV show The Sullivans. He was the romantic male lead in My Brilliant Career (1979), opposite Judy Davis, which was a big international success.[26] He made some Australian films that were less widely seen: The Journalist (1979), Just Out of Reach (1979) and Attack Force Z (1981), and appeared in television productions such as Young Ramsay and Lucinda Brayford.[citation needed]

1981–1989: Transition to Hollywood

In 1981, he won his first big international role, as Damien Thorn, son of the devil, in The Final Conflict;[27] also in that year, he played a main role in Andrzej Żuławski's cult film Possession.[27]

The 1982 film of Ivanhoe made Neill a local celebrity in Sweden, where it has been aired on SVT every New Years Day for 40 years.[28]

He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. Among his many Australian roles was playing Michael Chamberlain in Evil Angels (1988) (released as A Cry in the Dark outside Australia and New Zealand),[29] a film about the case of Azaria Chamberlain.

Neill at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Neill played heroes and occasionally villains in a succession of film and television dramas and comedies. In the UK, he won early fame and was Golden Globe-nominated after portraying real-life spy, Sidney Reilly, in the miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983).[30] An early American starring role was in 1987's Amerika, playing a senior KGB officer leading the occupation and division of a defeated United States.[31] His leading and co-starring roles in films include the thriller Dead Calm (1989)[27] and the two-part historical epic La Révolution française (1989) as Marquis de Lafayette.

1990–1999: Leading man roles

He solidified his leading man status with The Hunt for Red October (1990), Death in Brunswick (1990)[27] (in which he was re-teamed with old friend John Clarke), Jurassic Park (1993),[32] Sirens (1994), The Jungle Book (1994), John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1995), Event Horizon (1997), Bicentennial Man (1999), the comedy The Dish (2000),[27] and Jurassic Park III (2001). Neill occasionally acted in New Zealand films, including Jane Campion's The Piano (1993),[33] Perfect Strangers (2003),[33] Under the Mountain (2009),[33] and Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016).[33] He returned to directing in 1995 with the documentary Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995) which he wrote and directed with Judy Rymer.[34]

In 1993, he co-starred with Anne Archer in Question of Faith, an independent drama based on a true story about one woman's fight to beat cancer and have a baby. In 2000, he provided the voice of Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding. In 2001, he hosted and narrated a documentary series for the BBC entitled Space (Hyperspace in the United States).[35] He portrayed the eponymous wizard in Merlin (1998), a miniseries based on the legends of King Arthur. He reprised his role in the sequel, Merlin's Apprentice (2006).[1]

2000–2025: Television work and final roles

Neill starred in the historical drama The Tudors, playing Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. "I have to say I really enjoyed making The Tudors", he said,[36] "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."[36]

Neill at Burghound Asia in Singapore in 2011

He acted in the short-lived Fox TV series Alcatraz (2012) as Emerson Hauser. He played the role of Otto Luger in the fantasy adventure film The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box (2014).[37] He had a role in the BBC series Peaky Blinders, set in post-World War I Birmingham. He played the role of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, a sadistic corrupt policeman, who came to clean up the town on Winston Churchill's orders. In the 2015 BBC miniseries And Then There Were None, based on Agatha Christie's thriller, he played the role of General John MacArthur.[38]

In 2016, he starred in the New Zealand-made film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Waititi, as well as the ITV miniseries Tutankhamun. In 2017, Neill appeared in a scene in Waititi's fantasy sequel Thor: Ragnarok, in which he portrays an actor playing Odin (as depicted by Anthony Hopkins), alongside Luke Hemsworth and Matt Damon as actors playing Thor and Loki, respectively. He portrays the same actor in Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022.[33]

In 2018, he portrayed Mr. McGregor and also provided the voice of Tommy Brock, in Peter Rabbit. In 2019, he was cast for the role of Denis Goldberg in Escape from Pretoria; however, the role was subsequently recast with Ian Hart. In late 2019, he was announced to reprise his character of Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic World Dominion, which was released in June 2022.[39]

In 2022, Neill appeared in the Foxtel legal drama The Twelve as Brett Colby. When the series was renewed for series 2, Neill would reprise the role of Colby being the only member of the original season one cast to do so.[40] On 16 September 2024, it was announced that The Twelve had been renewed for a third season and Neill would be returning as Colby.[41] On 6 December 2024, Neill was announced as a nominee for the 2025 AACTA Awards for his role on The Twelve.[42]

On 21 June 2024, Neill was named in the cast for the Netflix drama Untamed.[43] On 15 April 2025, Neill's casting in Godzilla x Kong: Supernova had been announced.[44] On 16 May 2025, Neill was seen filming in the Philippines for the romantic comedy film The Last Resort.[45]

Personal life

In his early 20s, Neill fathered a son who was placed for adoption, with whom he later reunited in 1994.[46] In 1980, Neill met actress Lisa Harrow while filming The Final Conflict (1981), and they had a son.[47] He married make-up artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989, and they had one daughter together. He also adopted Watanabe's daughter from her first marriage.[48][49] They separated in 2017,[50][51] and Neill dated Australian political journalist Laura Tingle from 2018 to 2021.[52][53][54] As of 2023, he had eight grandchildren.[55]

Neill lived in Alexandra, South Island, New Zealand, and owned a winery called Two Paddocks, consisting of a vineyard at Gibbston and two near Alexandra, all in the Central Otago wine region.[56] His avocation was running Two Paddocks. "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", said Neill,[36] adding, "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 a while."[36] He enjoyed sharing his farm exploits on social media.[57] He named his farm animals after film industry colleagues.[58]

He wrote a memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, published in March 2023.[59][60]

Politics

In 2016, he criticised the policies of New South Wales premier Mike Baird on lockout laws and the ban on greyhound racing.[61] Neill spoke positively about the premiership of Jacinda Ardern.[62] He was a member of the Equity New Zealand trade union from 1979 until his death in 2026.[63]

In 2025, New Zealand resources minister Shane Jones called Neill "wrong and anti-Kiwi" for his opposition to an open-cast gold mine proposed near Cromwell.[64] Neill supported the local advocacy group Sustainable Tarras, which organised events against the mining proposal. He described Santana Minerals' proposal as "ruinous for the region".[65]

Health and death

In March 2023, Neill revealed that he had been undergoing chemotherapy since March 2022 after being diagnosed with stage 3 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, following swollen glands that were first noticed during publicity for Jurassic World Dominion.[60] He stated that the cancer was in remission, but he would require monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life.[66][60] In April 2026, Neill said that, after his chemotherapy had stopped working, he underwent CAR T-cell therapy as part of an Australian clinical trial. He said a recent scan showed no cancer in his body, and he advocated wider access to the treatment for blood cancer patients in Australia and New Zealand.[67]

Neill died in Sydney, Australia, on 13 July 2026, aged 78.[68] He was cancer-free at the time of his death, which his family described as "sudden and unexpected".[69][70]

Acting credits and accolades

Awards and nominations received by Sam Neill
YearOrganizationsCategoryNominated workResultRef.
1985Golden Globes AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmReilly: Ace of SpiesNominated[71]
1989AFI AwardsBest Actor in a Leading RoleEvil Angels / A Cry in the DarkWon[72]
1991Death in BrunswickNominated[73]
1992Golden Globes AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmOne Against the WindNominated[71]
1993AFI AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleThe PianoNominated[74]
American Television AwardsBest Actor in a MiniseriesFamily PicturesNominated
Saturn AwardsBest Supporting ActorMemoirs of an Invisible ManNominated[75]
1998Online Film & Television AwardsBest Actor in a Motion Picture or MiniseriesMerlinNominated
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a MovieNominated[76]
Fangoria Chainsaw AwardsBest ActorEvent HorizonNominated
1999Golden Globes AwardsBest Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmMerlinNominated[71]
Blockbuster Entertainment AwardsFavourite Supporting Actor – Drama/RomanceThe Horse WhispererNominated
2000AFI – Australian Film InstituteBest Actor in a Supporting RoleMy Mother FrankNominated
2001Ft. Lauderdale International Film FestivalBest ActorThe ZookeeperWon
Film Critics Circle of Australia AwardsBest Actor – MaleThe DishNominated
2004AFI – Australian Film InstituteBest Telefeature or Mini-SeriesThe Brush-OffNominated
Best Direction in TelevisionNominated
Best Leading Actor in a Television Drama or ComedyJessicaNominated
2005Logie AwardsTV Week Silver Logie For Most Outstanding ActorWon
Most Outstanding Mini-Series / TelemovieThe Brush-OffNominated
New Zealand Screen AwardsPerformance by an Actor in a Leading RolePerfect StrangersNominated
Film Critics Circle of Australia AwardsBest Actor in a Supporting RoleLittle FishNominated
2006Saturn AwardsBest Supporting Actor on TelevisionThe TriangleNominated
2008Gemini AwardsBest Supporting Actor in a Dramatic SeriesThe TudorsNominated
Monte-Carlo TV FestivalOutstanding Actor – Drama SeriesNominated
2009Qantas Film and Television AwardsBest Lead Actor in a Feature FilmDean SpanleyNominated
2010Best Supporting Actor in a Feature FilmUnder the MountainNominated
New Zealand Screen AwardsBest New Zealand ExportWon
2012Film Critics Circle of Australia AwardsBest Actor – Supporting RoleThe HunterNominated
AACTA AwardsBest Supporting ActorNominated
2016The DaughterNominated
Logie AwardsMost Outstanding ActorHouse of HancockNominated
Australian Movie ConventionAIMC Lifetime Achievement AwardWon
Film Club's The Lost Weekend AwardsBest Supporting ActorHunt for the WilderpeopleWon
2017Rialto Channel New Zealand Film AwardsWon
NCFCA AwardsNominated
Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding NarratorNew Zealand: Earth's Mythical IslandsNominated
Film Critics Circle of Australia AwardsBest Actor – Supporting RoleThe DaughterNominated
AFCA AwardsBest Supporting ActorWon
2019Sweet CountryWon
Film Critics Circle of Australia AwardsBest Actor – Supporting RoleNominated
New Zealand Television AwardsBest Presenter: EntertainmentThe Pacific: In The Wake of Captain Cook with Sam NeillWon
AACTA AwardsLongford Lyell AwardWon
The Equity Ensemble AwardsEquity New Zealand Lifetime Achievement AwardWon
Sitges – Catalonian International Film FestivalGrand Honorary AwardWon
2020AFCA AwardsBest Supporting ActorRide Like a GirlNominated
AACTA AwardsBest Lead ActorRamsNominated
2022Best Lead Actor In A DramaThe TwelveNominated
2023Logie AwardsMost Outstanding ActorNominated
TV Week Silver Logie For Most Popular ActorWon
2025AACTA AwardsBest Lead Actor In A DramaNominated
2025Logie AwardsBest Lead Actor in a DramaWon[77]

Reputation and honours

Neill's career, which spanned over five decades, involved leading roles in both independent films and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he was regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.[78][79] He was the recipient of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Longford Lyell Award, the New Zealand Film Award, and the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor. He also received three Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.[80] He won the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor[81] at the 2023 Logies.

Neill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services as an actor.[82] In the 2007 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM).[83] When knighthoods were returned to the New Zealand royal honours system in 2009, those with DCNZM or higher honours were given the option of converting them into knighthoods. Neill chose not to do this, saying the title of Sir was "just far too grand, by far".[84] However, in June 2022, he accepted redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.[85]

Neill was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Canterbury in 2002.[86] He was awarded the 2019 Equity New Zealand Lifetime achievement award, celebrating his distinguished performance career, as well as his leadership and mentoring towards others in the acting industry.[63] In 2020, he received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon Award, an honour limited to 20 living recipients at any one time.[87]

Bibliography

YearTitlePublisherPagesNotes
2023Did I Ever Tell You This? A MemoirMelbourne: The Text Publishing Company

London: Michael Joseph Ltd.

400Booktopia's Top 10 Favourite Books, 2024
2024Did I Ever Tell You This? A Memoir (fully revised and updated with new writing)Melbourne: The Text Publishing Company

London: Michael Joseph Ltd.

432

See also

References

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  3.  "Sam Neill on what he's learned". Belfast Telegraph. 14 May 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2024. I've got three passports. New Zealand, British and Irish
  4.  "PERCIVAL CLAY NEILL Biography – Dunedin". Northern Cemetery. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
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Sam Neill, Leading Man in ‘Jurassic Park,’ Dies at 78

He appeared in more than 150 films and TV shows over a five-decade career, but was perhaps best known for his star turn in the dinosaur blockbuster.

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Sam Neill, the versatile New Zealand actor who played Dr. Alan Grant in the “Jurassic Park” series, died on Monday in Sydney, Australia, his family said.CreditCredit...Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

By Natasha Frost and Zachary Woolfe

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Sam Neill, the ruggedly handsome and remarkably versatile screen actor from New Zealand who appeared in more than 150 films and television shows over a five-decade career and was perhaps best known for his star turn as the dashing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in the blockbuster “Jurassic Park” series, died on Monday in Sydney, Australia. He was 78.

His family announced the death in an Instagram post but did not specify the cause or where in Sydney he died. Mr. Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in March 2022, but the statement said that he was “cancer free” when he died.

Born in Northern Ireland and raised in New Zealand, Mr. Neill had the magnetism of a leading man and a character actor’s taste for variety.

Two roles in films released in 1993 give a sense of his range. For the director Steven Spielberg, he played the wonder-struck Dr. Grant in the first “Jurassic Park” movie, filled with crowd-pleasing computer-generated effects; at the same time, he portrayed the forlorn, cuckolded husband in Jane Campion’s severe and mysterious drama “The Piano.”

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