Sam Neill

Age: 62
Height: 6'

Birth Place: Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland, UK
Born: Sep. 14th, 1947

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Sam Neill's Main TV Roles

Show	Character(s)
The Tudors	Cardinal Th…
Crusoe	Jeremiah Bl…
The Triangle	Eric Benerall
Merlin's Apprentice (UK)	Merlin
Merlin (UK)	Merlin
Happy Town	Merritt Gri…
Amerika	Colonel And…
Kane & Abel	William Low…
Mary Bryant (AU)	Governor Ar…
Space (UK)	Himself - P…

NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB

BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Northern Ireland to army parents, his family returned to the South Island of New Zealand in 1954. He went to boarding schools and then attended the universities at Canterbury and Victoria. He has a BA in English Literature. Following his graduation, he worked with the New Zealand Players and other theater groups. He also was a film director, editor and scriptwriter for the New Zealand National Film Unit for 6 years. His first feature film was Sleeping Dogs (1977). He then moved to Australia and his performance in My Brilliant Career (1979) was noticed in London by British actor James Mason (I) who lobbied for Neill to get the lead role in The Final Conflict (1981). Because of this, Neill moved to England where he also became famous as the title character in "Reilly: Ace of Spies" (1983). After his Great Britain stint, he moved back to Australia in the late 1980s. He now makes films all over the world. In 1993, he achieved "commercial and critical success" with Jurassic Park (1993) and The Piano (1993).

TRIVIA:

He is a big fan of 'The Beach Boys' (qv).
He is one of the three founders of Huntaway Films, along with his good friends 'John Clarke (II)' (qv) and 'Jay Cassells' (qv).
Met wife 'Noriko Watanabe (I)' (qv) on the set of _Dead Calm (1989)_ (qv), where she worked as a make-up artist.
"Best Actor on British Television" for _"Reilly: The Ace of Spies" (1983)_, Australian Film Institute Award "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role" for Evil Angels (aka _Cry in the Dark (1988)_).
Montana is a recurring element in his films: in _The Hunt for Red October (1990)_ (qv) he wants to live in Montana; in _The Horse Whisperer (1998)_ (qv) he goes to Montana to find with his wife; in _Jurassic Park (1993)_ (qv) he is digging up fossils in Montana.
His vineyard is in the Gibbston Valley, Otago. His wine is a Pinot Noir called Two Paddocks.
Owns a winery, Two Paddocks, in the Central Otago region of New Zealand. It was started in 1993.
Good friends with musicians 'Neil Finn' (qv), 'Tim Finn (I)' (qv) and 'Jimmy Barnes (II)' (qv).