Sam Neill’s ex-girlfriend Laura Tingle is breaking her silence with a touching tribute after his sudden death.
“Sweet Dreams darling Sam,” Tingle, 65, wrote via Instagram on Monday, July 13, after news broke earlier that day that Neill had died at age 78.
The Australian journalist shared a video montage of the former couple’s time together set to John Hiatt’s 2014 song “Long Time Comin’.”
Images of Neill and Tingle cozying up together, sharing sweet kisses on the forehead and smiling for the camera appeared in between snaps of the Jurassic Park actor goofing off with friends, singing with pals and exploring the great outdoors.
The tribute had an extra sense of melancholy and heartbreak with the accompanying lyrics, “And if I told the truth / All these memories of you / Well that’s why I play the game / Friend of mine said, ‘A long time comin’ / Like it never came.”. Hiatt’s verse continued, “I’ve sang these songs a thousand times / Ever since I was young / It’s a long time comin’ and a drummer keeps drummin’ / Your work is never done.”
At one point in the video, Tingle and Neill did a rendition of John Prine’s “In Spite of Ourselves” during a singalong, giving a rare glimpse into their relationship.
Neill’s family confirmed his death on Monday, sharing that he died in Sydney, Australia, “surrounded by family.”
They noted in a social media statement that although his death was “sudden and unexpected,” his loved ones were “blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free” after battling the disease for five years before being given a clean bill of health in April.
Tingle, for her part, was Neill’s most recent ex-girlfriend before his death. The pair dated from 2018 to 2021.
Neither Tingle nor Neill have spoken much about their three-year romance, but Australia’s Nine.com reported that Neill once joked about their dynamic, saying, “My guess is that I’m in it for the politics; she’s in it for the wine.”
Prior to his relationship with Tingle, Neill was married to Lisa Harrow from 1980 to 1989. The couple share one child, son Tim, who was born in 1983.
The actor married Japanese makeup artist Noriko Watanabe in 1989 after meeting on Dead Calm. The pair welcomed daughter Elena in 1991 and Neill adopted Watanabe’s daughter, Maiko, from a previous relationship. Neill and Watanabe split in 2017.
Neill’s eldest son, Andrew, was born when he was in his early 20s and placed for adoption. The father and son were reunited in 1994.
Following the actor’s death, Heather Mitchell, whom Neill briefly dated in the ‘80s — and went on to become a lifelong friend — also mourned the loss, recalling how she heard the devastating news on Monday.
“I received the news, a phone call, from someone really close to him. [I] didn’t ask many questions,” Mitchell, 68, told ABC’s 7.30, noting that she is “leaving it to the family and those very very close to him to reveal the circumstances.”
The Great Gatsby actress confessed, “I haven’t processed it at all. Very shocked.”
Despite the hole Neill’s death has left in Mitchell’s heart, she said, “I feel strongly that Sam, as in that tribute, said that he feared retirement more than death. I think that is a truth. He identified so much with his work and it meant so much to him and I don’t think that Sam would be happy not working. If he was unable to work I don’t think he would want that.”
