“Lord of the Rings” and “Titanic”: Actor Bernard Hill dies

2024-05-05 15:24:33

Culture “Lord of the Rings” and Titanic”

Actor Bernard Hill dies

Status: 05.05.2024 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Bernard Hill im Film „Titanic“

What: REUTERS

Hollywood actor Bernard Hill has died. Among other things, he played the captain in the world-famous film “Titanic”, and he also appeared as King Theoden in “Lord of the Rings”. Hill was 79 years old.

British actor Bernard Hill, known from world-famous film classics such as “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings,” is dead. He died early Sunday morning at the age of 79, as BBC News reported with reference to Hill’s management. In the global hit “Titanic”, which won eleven Oscars in 1998, Hill played Captain Edward Smith alongside the two main roles Jack and Rose, who were played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Hill, who was born in Manchester, England in 1944, also played King Théoden in two films in director Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, of which the third part “The Return of the King” also won eleven Oscars. Hill joined the cast for the second part of “The Two Towers” ​​and continued his role in the third part of the famous fantasy series.

He was married and had a son.

Bernard Hill (3rd from right) played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 film Titanic

What: REUTERS

Earlier in his career, Hill starred in the 1982 BBC drama Boys from the Blackstuff, which won numerous awards and is still hailed as one of the best of its genre from the period. He stars alongside Martin Freeman in the second series of the BBC drama The Responder, which airs in the UK from Sunday.

British actress and singer Barbara Dickson, who starred with Hill in a musical based on the Beatles, responds to X (formerly Twitter) on the death of her colleague: “It is with great sadness that I note the death of Bernard Hill,” she wrote. “A truly wonderful actor. It was a privilege to have crossed paths with him. RIP Benny.”

The director of BBC Drama also responded to the news about the actor: “Bernard Hill has blazed a trail across the screen and his long career full of iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent.”