Bernard Hill, who starred in Titanic and Lord of the Rings, has died as the age of 79.
The actor, who played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film, died in the early hours of this morning, his agent has said.
A father-of-one, he became known to a generation for his portrayal of King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
In the process he starred in two films – Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – which won 11 Oscars and crossed $1billion at the box office.
His passing comes hours before he was due to return to TV in Martin Freeman drama The Responder, which airs on BBC One tonight.
Bernard Hill portrayed King Theoden in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002 (pictured)
The actor also portrayed Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic (pictured)
Bernard Hill had a varied screen career, coming to prominence acting in small down to earth dramas before going on to star in films that made billions worldwide. Pictured: Hill at the premier of ‘Gods Own Country’ in Edinburgh in June 2017
The Manchester native had a varied on-screen career, coming to prominence acting in small realistic dramas, before going on to star in films that made billions worldwide.
Born in Blackley into a family of coal miners, he would attend acting school with Richard Griffiths, before moving into television.
After bit roles in Hard Labour and the poorly received but now acclaimed I, Claudius, he got his first major break in the early 1980s.
The actor was cast as Yosser Hughes, a working class Liverpudlian in The Black Stuff and its sequel, Boys from the Blackstuff, in 1982.
The same year he took the role of Sergeant Putnam in Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning biopic Gandhi, before starring in the BBC’s 1983 adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play Henry VI, in which he played the Duke of York.
He would later be cast as Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s gargantuan film, Titanic.
The 1997 movie saw him play the captain of the infamous vessel on what would be its maiden and only voyage across the Atlantic, before going down with the ship after it hit an iceberg.
The thespian lived in Suffolk and is survived by his wife Marianna Hill and their son Gabriel.
More to follow…
