Lord of the Rings star Bernard Hill dies aged 79: Actor who won 11 Academy Awards passes away
Bernard Hill, who starred in Titanic and Lord of the Rings, has died at the age of 79.
The actor, who played Captain Edward Smith in the Oscar-winning 1997 film, died in the early hours of this morning, his agent said.
The father of one child, he became known to an entire generation for his portrayal of King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Manchester native first came to prominence in the early 1980s when he starred as Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff.
The stage actor, who lived in Suffolk with his actress wife Marianna Hill, also had roles in the Richard Attenborough film Gandhi and the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.
Bernard Hill played King Theoden in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002 (pictured)
The actor also played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Oscar-winning film Titanic (pictured)
Bernard Hill had a varied film career, rising to fame acting in small, down-to-earth dramas before starring in films that made billions worldwide. Pictured: Hill at the premiere of ‘God’s Own Country’ in Edinburgh in June 2017
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