Sam Neill's cause of death revealed

New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who passed away at a Sydney hospital on Monday, was confirmed to have died from pneumonia.

The 78-year-old’s long-time agent Philip Grenz released a statement on Thursday about the cause of death, after speaking with the actor’s family and due to “inaccurate and outright falsehoods,” he said.

Best known for his roles in Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders, the actor’s family described his death as “sudden and unexpected.”

In April, the Northern Ireland-born actor, Neill, announced he was in remission after being diagnosed with blood cancer years earlier. According to his family, he died “cancer free.”

He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.

Grenz said that during the past year Neill had been working on four projects back-to-back, which are all set to be released in the coming months.

Throughout his life, Neill starred in at least 75 films. His initial success came in 1977’s Sleeping Dogs, where he played the role of Smith. He went on to play major roles in many other movies, such as The Hunt for Red October, The Piano, Wilderpeople, multiple Jurassic Park films and the first two seasons of Peaky Blinders.

He is one of IMDB’s ‘Top 20 New Zealand Actors,’ though he had Irish roots. Born in Omagh, his family moved to New Zealand when he was seven.

The news of Neill’s death saw tributes from many of his fellow actors, politicians and fans, with Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg describing Neill as “exceptionally collaborative.”

“It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children,” he said. “I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.

Neill’s Jurassic Park co-stars Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum also paid tribute to their “beloved lifetime friend.”

Australian actress Toni Collete called him a “hero, legend and sweetheart,” New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he was “one of the greats" and Cillian Murphy described him as someone he “admired and adored in equal measure.”