SAM NEILL – THE MAN

A recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for Services to Acting, 
Sam Neill is internationally recognised for his ongoing contribution to film 
and television.  

Sam appears in the soon to be released titles YES, for ORLANO director Sally 
Potter, and the New Zealand thriller PERFECT STRANGERS.  Other recent 
feature credits include DIRTY DEEDS, from Australian writer/director David 
Caesar; the Czech production THE ZOOKEEPER; JURASSIC PARK III; the 
animated kids’ film THE MAGIC PUDDING; and THE DISH.

Sam has received many accolades for his work in film, including an 
Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award nomination for Best Actor in a 
Supporting Role in 1993 for his performance as the detached husband of 
Holly Hunter’s character in Jane Campion’s classic THE PIANO.  Also in 1993, 
Sam was named New Zealand Entertainer of the Year.  In 1991 he received 
an AFI nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role for the 
feature DEATH IN BRUNSWICK, opposite Zoe Carides.  He received the 
award in 1989 for his performance in Fred Schepisi’s dramatisation of the 
Lindy Chamberlain story, EVIL ANGELS (aka A CRY IN THE DARK).

Sam’s other stand-out films include Robert Redford’s THE HORSE 
WHISPERER, Peter Duncan’s CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION, John 
McTiernan’s THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (in which he stars opposite Sean 
Connery), and Gillian Armstrong’s breakthrough feature MY BRILLIANT 
CAREER.

Sam’s television roles have also received high praise, earning him a total of 
three Golden Globe nominations.  In 1998 he received Emmy and Golden 
Globe nominations for the title role in the NBC miniseries ‘Merlin’.  He also 
received a Golden Globe nomination in 1992 for his performance opposite 
Judy Davis in the war drama ‘One Against the Wind’ and in 1985 for his 
performance as British spy Sidney Reilly in ‘Reilly: the Ace of Spies’, which 
also starred Leo McKern.  The British Academy of Film and Television 
honoured Sam’s work in the miniseries by naming him the Best Actor on 
British Television in 1984.  

More recently, Sam played Victor Komarovsky in Granada’s epic miniseries 
‘Doctor Zhivago’.  He will soon appear on Australian television in the 
miniseries ‘Jessica’, an adaptation of the Bryce Courtenay novel for Network 
10.

Sam produces an excellent New Zealand pinot noir called Two Paddocks.  He 
is also active in a number of issues re the environment.