Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Sept 14, 2019 12:45:03 GMT
Sam Neill (birth name was Nigel Neill, he changed it at age 10 to "avoid a lifetime of pain") was born in Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand father on September 14th 1947. The family moved to New Zealand when he was seven.
In later years he developed a love for acting and he was quite successful, appearing in Australian hit movies like Sleeping Dogs (1977), My Brilliant Career (1979) and Attack Force Z (1981).
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He made a splashy debut in American movies playing the antichrist, Damien Thorn in The Final Conflict (1981), which I will admit I still think of when I see or hear of him.
It was not long after this Hollywood nearly cast him as James Bond 007. First when Roger Moore left the role, and second when Timothy Dalton left.
We all know he never became James Bond, but Sam continued to work steadily, twice with Meryl Streep in the 80's in Plenty (1985) and A Cry in the Dark (1988).
1993 was a big year for Sam, both The Piano and Jurassic Park were released, two of his most beloved movies.
Some fun trivia: Sam was up for the part of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) which wound up being given to Harrison Ford. Ford turned down the role of Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993) which Sam played to perfection.
He played a cat burglar in a 1994 episode of The Simpsons.
"I'm playing a cat burglar. I've made it. This is the high point of my career. I'm really chuffed".
Things picked up, career-wise, after being in such box-office hits, and he worked in a variety of movies throughout the 90's, such as Event Horizon (1997).
He returned to his role as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park III (2001).
He played some memorable characters on TV during the 2000's and the 2010's. Two of them I enjoyed were the slightly sinister Merritt Grieves in Happy Town...
...and Emerson Hauser in Alcatraz. Neither series lasted long.
I know he's on Peaky Blinders but I haven't seen it yet, someday maybe...
Of his most recent work, I strongly recommend Hunt For the Wilderpeople (2016) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), both from New Zealand director, Taika Waititi.
Sam will soon be reprising his role in the upcoming Jurassic World 3, along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum!
In later years he developed a love for acting and he was quite successful, appearing in Australian hit movies like Sleeping Dogs (1977), My Brilliant Career (1979) and Attack Force Z (1981).
He made a splashy debut in American movies playing the antichrist, Damien Thorn in The Final Conflict (1981), which I will admit I still think of when I see or hear of him.
It was not long after this Hollywood nearly cast him as James Bond 007. First when Roger Moore left the role, and second when Timothy Dalton left.
We all know he never became James Bond, but Sam continued to work steadily, twice with Meryl Streep in the 80's in Plenty (1985) and A Cry in the Dark (1988).
1993 was a big year for Sam, both The Piano and Jurassic Park were released, two of his most beloved movies.
Some fun trivia: Sam was up for the part of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) which wound up being given to Harrison Ford. Ford turned down the role of Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (1993) which Sam played to perfection.
He played a cat burglar in a 1994 episode of The Simpsons.
"I'm playing a cat burglar. I've made it. This is the high point of my career. I'm really chuffed".
Things picked up, career-wise, after being in such box-office hits, and he worked in a variety of movies throughout the 90's, such as Event Horizon (1997).
He returned to his role as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park III (2001).
He played some memorable characters on TV during the 2000's and the 2010's. Two of them I enjoyed were the slightly sinister Merritt Grieves in Happy Town...
...and Emerson Hauser in Alcatraz. Neither series lasted long.
I know he's on Peaky Blinders but I haven't seen it yet, someday maybe...
Of his most recent work, I strongly recommend Hunt For the Wilderpeople (2016) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), both from New Zealand director, Taika Waititi.
Sam will soon be reprising his role in the upcoming Jurassic World 3, along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum!
Nigel ... erm .. Sam ! 
