Hill rose to prominence with his portrayal of Yosser Hughes in the acclaimed BBC TV drama ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’
British actor Bernard Hill, best known for his supporting roles in ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy, died on Sunday aged 79, his agent announced.
He played Captain Edward Smith in the Oscar-winning 1997 epic romance ‘Titanic’, and earned worldwide recognition playing Theoden, King of Rohan, in two of the three ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ films directed by Peter Jackson.
His agent Lou Coulson confirmed his death in the early hours of Sunday to British media outlets.
Early in his career, Hill featured in the BBC’s 1982 acclaimed drama ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’, which won numerous awards and is still lauded as one of the finest examples of its genre from the era.
He is set to return to television screens in series two of a contemporary BBC drama, ‘The Responder’, starring Martin Freeman, which begins airing in the UK later on Sunday.
Bernard Hill’s career in 10 roles, from Titanic to Lord of the Rings
Sergeant Putnam – Gandhi
Gandhi wasn’t Hill’s first film role, but it was his first one of note, playing the small part of Sergeant Putnam in Richard Attenborough’s award-winning biopic.
Yosser Hughes – Boys from the Blackstuff
Hill’s breakthrough role came in the acclaimed drama Boys from the Blackstuff, playing Yosser Hughes, a Liverpudlian man who unravels when confronted with the injustice of the British welfare system. His catchphrase, “gizza job”, was one of the most iconic and widely recognisable lines of dialogue of the era.Bernard Hill as Yosser Hughes in Boys From The Blackstuff (PA Media)
Doctor David Hawthorne – The Ghost and the Darkness
Hill starred opposite Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas in this historical thriller, in which two lions terrorise a Kenyan community in the late 19th century. Hill meets a grisly fate in the film, which in 1996 was his highest-profile film role to date.
Joe Bradshaw – Shirley Valentine
Hill drew acclaim for playing Joe Bradshaw, the husband of Pauline Collins’s titular Shirley, in this 1989 film adapted from a play by Willy Russell. The film told the story of a middle-aged Scouse homemaker who has an extramarital affair.Bernard Hill and Pauline Collins in ‘Shirley Valentine’ (Paramount)
Captain Edward Smith –Titanic
Hill memorably played the role of the ship’s captain in James Cameron’s record-breaking disaster movie Titanic. He later confessed he was surprised by the film’s runaway success. “It didn’t seem iconic from my point of view,” he told Metro. “I know others on the cast don’t see it like that. It was kind of a group thing. A small budget film, everybody really liked each other and there was no strain. It was quite intimate.”
Luther Plunkitt – True Crime
Hill gave a compelling supporting turn in Clint Eastwood’s 1999 thriller True Crime, playing Luther Plunkitt, the warden of San Quentin prison who begins to suspect that inmate Frank Beechum (Isaiah Washington) may be an innocent man. Reflecting on the experience, he later recalled: “[Eastwood is] a considerate director; he knows how actors think and he’s massively quiet on the set and he’s got a gentle way in which he approaches the directing.”
Théoden, King of Rohan – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
When we first meet Théoden in Peter Jackson’s fantasy epic, he is a shell of a man, diminished by the poison of the evil wizard Saruman. His character’s arc, from a timid king to a noble, warrior hero, is one of the most uplifting in the entire saga making Théoden a fan favourite for good reason. Hill’s performance is rich in both gravitas and pathos, while his delivery of the line, “Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell?” is still widely mimicked (and memed) by fans to this day.Hill as King Theoden in ‘Lord of the Rings’ (New Line)
The Duke of Norfolk –Wolf Hall
One of Hill’s most prominent later roles came in the serialized Hilary Mantel adaptation Wolf Hall, in which he played Thomas Howard, the duke of Norfolk. In the well-received series, Hill’s character was the uncle of Anne Boleyn and a sworn enemy of Cardinal Wolsey.
Judge Hopkins – Paranorman
To children, Hill’s biggest character may be the undead Judge Hopkins, who reigns over the cursed zombies in the dark 2012 kids’ animation ParaNorman. His voice work for the stop-motion film made him one of the movie’s standouts.
Father Robert Greaves – Unforgotten
The actor revisited his real-life catholic roots to portray a priest and murder suspect in the layered crime drama Unforgotten. “If you’re playing a priest, the worst thing you can do is to play a priest,” he mused at the time. “I think priests are like that anyway. The priests that you get on with, it doesn’t matter what they’re wearing. They don’t go around saying, I’m a priest.”
Source: Wikipedia, IMDb, The New York Times, BBC & The Daily Mail
