Sam Neill is a New Zealand British actor. Sam Neill is perhaps best known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam is the second son of Dermot and his English wife Priscilla. The family owned the largest liquor retailers in New Zealand.

Sam Neill went on to study English literature at the University of Canterbury. He continued his tertiary education at Victoria University from which Sam Neill graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.