Acclaimed actor Sam Neill has died suddenly, aged 78, surrounded by family in Sydney.

Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma in 2022 — the same year he was knighted.

When chemotherapy stopped working on his stage-three blood cancer, Neill started a new treatment and announced in April this year that he was cancer free.

“It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing,” the family said in a social media post on Monday.

“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life.

“The loss was sudden and unexpected, but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”

Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Northern Ireland in 1947, he and his family moved to Christchurch, on New Zealand’s south island, seven years later. They relocated to Dunedin the following year.

He studied law at the University of Canterbury for one year then decided to pursue acting and played in theatre productions before he scored his breakthrough role in the 1977 film Sleeping Dogs.

Neill had two sons. One was born when Neill was in his early 20s but was given up for adoption, with the pair reuniting in 1994.

He had another son with actor Lisa Harrow while they were filming The Final Conflict in 1981.

He married makeup artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989. The couple had a daughter together, and he also adopted Watanabe’s daughter from a previous marriage. They separated in 2017.

Source: news.com.au