British actor Bernard Hill, known for his notable roles in “Titanic” and the “Lord of the Rings” saga, died this Sunday, May 5. He was 79 years old.
Titanic and Lord of the Rings fans are in mourning. Bernard Hill, who played the captain of the liner in James Cameron’s classic as well as King Théoden in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, died this Sunday, May 5. The British actor was 79 years old.
Revealed in 1982 with the soap opera Boys from the Blackstuff, where he played a man struggling to find a job in Liverpool, Bernard Hill, a great supporting role on the big and small screen, enjoyed international recognition late in life. And not with just any film: in 1988, in the Titanic of James Cameron, it is he who plays Edward John Smith, the captain of the famous liner. Impossible to forget his look at the inevitable, standing on the deck of the infamous ship…
Several years later, Bernard Hill gets a new important role when Peter Jackson calls on him to play King Théoden in two parts of the Lord of the Rings saga: The Two Towers And The king’s return. The actor, who had violently tackled the Amazon series adapted from Tolkien, remains in all memories with the vibrant speech given to urge his meager troops to fight a horde of orcs in Minas Tirith. A speech of great power to be found below.
In addition to these two performances which touched millions of spectators around the world, Bernard Hill appeared in the credits of Clint Eastwood’s Judged Guilty, toured under the direction of Mathieu Kassovitz in Gothika and rubbed shoulders with Dwayne Johnson and Tom Cruise, respectively in The Scorpion King and Walkyrie.
It should be noted to conclude that with his roles in Titanic And The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Bernard Hill holds quite a title. He is in fact the only actor to have appeared in the credits of two films holding 11 Oscars, a record for statuettes for a single work.
The trailer for “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”: