The British actor Bernard Hill, known for his roles in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and also in “Titanic,” died this morning at the age of 79, as confirmed by his representative, Lou Coulson, to the television network. BBC. Throughout his 40-year career, Hill appeared in numerous film titles and television series.
His popularity skyrocketed after playing the role of Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron's Oscar-winning film in 1997. Years later, Hill returned to play a character, King Théoden from the film adaptation of the famous trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which would give him great notoriety as an actor, although his career had begun decades before.
The actor had accumulated 40 years of experience on both the small and big screen, with titles such as “Yo, Claudio” (1976) or the drama “Boys from the Blackstuff”, which was broadcast in the early eighties and in the who plays Yosser Hughes, a character who fights against unemployment in Liverpool.
At that time he also played Sergeant Putnam in the 1982 film 'Gandhi', directed by filmmaker Richard Attenborough. Another of his memorable performances was in the drama series “Wolf Hall” (2015), a BBC adaptation of the novel by writer Hilary Mantel in which Hill plays Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk. The actor also appears in a long list of film titles, such as “Shirley Valentine” (1989), “The Scorpion King” (2002) and the film “Valkyrie” (2008).
Born in Blackley (northern England) on December 17, 1944, the actor grew up in a Catholic family of miners and from an early age he was inclined towards dramatic art, which led him to study at the Polytechnic School of Drama. from Manchester. He was married to actress Marianna Hill.
After hearing the news of his death, social networks such as described the actor as “really wonderful.” For his part, the director of BBC Drama, Lindsay Salt, has highlighted that his career “full of iconic and notable roles” is a testament to his “incredible talent.”
