From teeing up a marriage to inspiring a career and giving 144 bottles of wine to his birthday band, the star’s admirers share their fondest memories
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Tributes to Sam Neill from Charles Dance, Lindsay Duncan and Peter Webber, Jane Campion, Gillian Armstrong and Miranda Richardson
I bloody loved Sam Neill. I first saw him in Reilly: Ace of Spies, and even as a kid, I recognised his quality. For me, he was always the best thing in whatever he was in. To do that consistently over decades is some achievement. You could see the twinkle when he was being Sam. He might have taken his work seriously; I never felt he took himself seriously. That made him very lovable. Shirley, 55, West Yorkshire
