'Sweet dreams darling Sam': Laura Tingle’s heartfelt message to ex Sam Neill

Author: Herald Reporters,
Publish Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2026, 3:37pm

Tingle’s tribute suggests the pair remained on warm terms in the years leading up to Neill’s death. Photo / Laura Tingle

Amid a flood of celebrity tributes to beloved actor Sam Neill, who died in Sydney yesterday aged 78, one message stood out.

Former partner and veteran ABC journalist Laura Tingle shared a sweet tribute overnight, alongside a slideshow of photos and videos.

Neill and Tingle were together from 2018 to 2021 but always kept their romance private.

Although their relationship ended, Tingle’s tribute suggests the pair remained on warm terms in the years leading up to Neill’s death.

“Sweet dreams darling Sam,” Tingle captioned an Instagram post.

The post featured clips of the pair travelling through New Zealand, singing together, walking a pig, rowing a boat and sharing other everyday moments.

The post has attracted more than 2.1 million views and 300,000 likes.

While both were private about their relationship, Neill occasionally spoke about Tingle publicly, describing the relationship as something he was “grateful” for.

“My guess is that I’m in it for the politics; she’s in it for the wine,” Neill said in an interview with Australian Story.

Before his relationship with Tingle, Neill was married to makeup artist Noriko Watanabe. The couple wed in 1989 and remained together for nearly 30 years before separating in 2017.

Friend and Hunt for the Wilderpeople co-star Rima Te Wiata told Ryan Bridge TODAY Neill had pneumonia before his death.

“It really sucks actually. As he said in the press once, he’s not scared of death but he would be annoyed. He would be like, ‘Oh for goodness’ sake I just got over my cancer and now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?’ But he’s on his big journey now.”

The beloved New Zealand actor announced he was cancer-free in April after receiving treatment for a rare form of blood cancer for several years.

Neill’s family said last night: they ”would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”

The actor lived in Central Otago and owned the Two Paddocks vineyards.

He was best known worldwide as the palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Jurassic Park, which premiered in 1993.

In 2025, he received the prestigious New Zealand Screen Legend Award at the annual New Zealand Screen Awards, honouring his five-decade legacy in television and film.

He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.