‘A true gentleman’: actors, directors and leaders pay tribute to Sam Neill

The star of more than 100 films is remembered as a champion of New Zealand’s arts, culture and environment, and a generous collaborator and friend

• Sam Neill, star of Jurassic Park films and The Piano, dies aged 78

• Sam Neill’s 20 best roles

Sam Neill’s friends, peers and admirers have rushed to pay tribute to the actor, after his sudden death on Monday at the age of 78.

Australian director Phillip Noyce, who directed Neill in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm alongside Nicole Kidman, told the Guardian: “Sam was perhaps the most gentlemanly actor ​I ever encountered. Level-headed and sincere in a show business world of crazy egos. His word was his contract.”