Online Reporter
LOS ANGELES. – The sudden passing of Jurassic Park legend Sam Neill shocked the movie world, after he was pictured looking happy and healthy just last month.
Sam was part of the original star-studded cast of Jurassic Park with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.
Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster dinosaurs franchise catapulted the many careers of then-little-known stars.
Laura Dern
Sam was part of the original star-studded cast of Jurassic Park with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum
Laura, 59, has had a glittering career since playing paleobotanist heroine Dr Ellie Sattler in the blockbuster.
She first gained recognition when she starred in cult classic Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart.
Her career experienced a resurgence in 2017. She was already on the adult animated comedy F is for Family but that year she joined the TV hit Big Little Lies and well as the Twin Peaks revival.
She appeared in The Last Jedi that year. Two years later, she appeared in 2019 Oscar-nominated films Marriage Story and Little Women.
She was just 23 years old, while Neill was 43 when filming for the iconic franchise started.
After her Jurassic Park days, Laura struck up a romance with her co-star Jeff Goldblum from 1992 to 1997.
She was previously engaged to Billy Bob Thornton before his marriage to Angelina Jolie.
Laura later married musician Ben Harper in 2005 and divorced in 2013. The former couple share son Ellery, 25, and daughter Jaya, 22.
The award-winning actress is currently shooting series four of The White Lotus, after she was drafted in to replace Helena Bonham Carter.
Jeff Goldblum
Jeff, 73, played Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park saga. His character was hired by John Hammond as a financial consultant to give an evaluation of his dinosaur park
From dazzling audiences in the eighties and nineties, Jeff is still enchanting viewers to this day (pictured in his latest movie, Wicked with Michelle Yeoh)
Jeff, 73, played Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park saga. His character was hired by John Hammond as a financial consultant to give an evaluation of his dinosaur park.
Like his co-stars, Jurassic Park was his big break.
In between filming Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, he filmed Independence Day (1996) which had enough of a following to inspire the sequel Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).
Nowadays, you will find Jeff spending time with his family and performing jazz with his band.
Jeff shares two sons Charlie, 10, and River Joe, eight, with his 43-year-old wife Emilie Livingston.
Ariana Richards
Ariana, now 46, was just 12 years old when she made waves thanks to her role as Lex Murphy in the original flick alongside on-screen younger brother Joseph Mazzello (R)
The former actress, whose last acting gig was in 2013’s Battledogs, is now a successful artist after she quit Hollywood
Ariana, now 46, was just 12 years old when she made waves thanks to her role as Lex Murphy in the original flick.
Despite gaining widespread stardom in her debut role, Ariana has since quit the spotlight entirely.
The former actress, whose last acting gig was in 2013’s Battledogs, is now a successful artist.
Ariana wed Mark Aaron Bolton in Oregon in January 2013 and the couple went on to have a daughter who was born in 2015.
Joseph Mazzello
Joseph, 42, was just ten years old when he starred in Jurassic Park in 1993, in which his role as Lex’s younger brother launched his career
Joseph’s latest movie role saw him star in the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody (pictured in 2019)
The actor portrayed John Deacon, who is best known for having been the bass guitarist in the rock band Queen, in the biopic
Joseph, 42, was just ten years old when he starred in Jurassic Park in 1993, in which his role as Lex’s younger brother launched his career.
Samuel L Jackson
Samuel L Jackson is now one of the biggest actors of all time, but was a relatively unknown name in Hollywood when he portrayed chief park engineer Ray Arnold in Jurassic Park
His character was killed by a raptor as he tried to restore power to the theme park
Samuel, now 77, is now known to be one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
BD Wong
BD Wong, 65, portrayed the chief geneticist at Jurassic Park who oversaw the creation of all park dinosaurs (pictured in the 2015 movie)
BD Wong, 65, portrayed the chief geneticist at Jurassic Park who oversaw the creation of all park dinosaurs.
BD is best known for his roles as Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Father Ray Mukada on HBO’s Oz, and for starring as Song Liling, the lead in the Broadway production of M Butterfly.
Wayne Knight
Wayne Knight’s participation in the Jurassic franchise was short lived after his character Dennis Nedry was eaten by a Dilophosaurus after he stole dinosaur embryos
After Jurassic Park, he appeared in Space Jam (1996) and TV programmes 3rd Rock from the Sun, Hot in Cleveland and Torchwood (pictured in 2025)
Before Jurassic Park, Wayne Knight, 70, was best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld’s nemesis, mailman Newman, in the beloved sitcom Seinfeld.
He had also portrayed a detective in Basic Instinct (1992) during Sharon Stone’s famous leg-crossing scene, which is regarded as one of the most notorious scenes in American cinema.
Wayne’s participation in the Jurassic franchise was short lived, unfortunately.
Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough portrayed Jurassic Park creator John Hammond in the beloved film. He is pictured with his on-screen grandchildren Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards
During his 60-year career, Richard gathered 74 acting credits (pictured in Miracle On 34Th Street (1994) with Mara Wilson, Dylan McDermott and Elizabeth Perkins)
The late Richard Attenborough, who died aged 90 in 2014, portrayed Jurassic Park creator John Hammond in the beloved film.
He was one of Britain’s leading actors, before becoming a highly successful director.
During his 60-year career, he gathered 74 acting credits after appearing in 1942 war film In Which We Serve, directed by Noel Coward. – Mailonline
