Martin Freeman pays tribute to his ‘gentle’ and kind’ co-star Bernard Hill following his death aged 79

Martin Freeman has paid tribute to his co-star Bernard Hill as a ‘gentle’ and ‘kind’ man following his death at the age of 79.

The actor, who starred alongside Martin in the BBC police drama The Responder, died in the early hours of May 5, his agent confirmed.

Bernard was best known to audiences for his role as King Theodon in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and he also played Captain Edward J. Smith in Titantic.

Martin, 52, reflected on his working relationship with Bernard during an appearance on The One Show on Thursday.

He said: ‘It was lovely, it was really beautiful. I think, you know, when he came on set he was from Manchester, but he was Liverpool royalty, having played Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff forty years ago.

“He was loved in that city. And to us and the cast and crew, he was a very gentle, playful man with a twinkle in his eye. And I loved working with him, it felt like a real…

“Well, obviously it’s his last performance, so I mean for us, it’s devastating that he’s not here to watch, to kind of reap the rewards of what he did, because what he did is so good.

“But I’m glad his last thing was something he cared about and loved so much. We were very lucky to have him.”

Martin appeared on the show with fellow The Responder star Adelayo Adedayo.

Bernard first became known to many in Britain for his emotional and daring performance as Yosser Hughes in the 1980s drama Boys from the Blackstuff, a role that also brought him to the attention of Hollywood.

His death comes hours before he was due to return to television in the Martin Freeman drama The Responder, which airs tonight on BBC One.

Tributes have been paid to the actor, with praise for his ‘incredible talent’ and a career that has seen him ‘fast-track across the screen’.

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: ‘Bernard Hill has left a mark on the screen, and his enduring career of iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent.

‘From Boys from the Blackstuff to Wolf Hall, The Responder and many more, we feel truly honored to have worked with Bernard at the BBC. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”

Actress and musician Barbara Dickson, who starred with him in a musical based on the Beatles, was among those to pay tribute, describing him as a ‘great actor’.

She captioned a photo of them together: ‘It is with great sadness that I learn of the death of Bernard Hill.

‘We worked together in John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert, (by) Willy Russell wonderful show 1974-1975.

‘Really a great actor. It was a privilege to cross paths with him. RIP Benny x.’

The Manchester native had a varied on-screen career, finding fame acting in small realistic dramas before starring in films that earned billions worldwide.

Born in Blackley to a family of miners, he would go to acting school with Richard Griffiths before moving into television.

After small roles in Hard Labor and the poorly received but now critically acclaimed I, Claudius, he got his first big break in the early 1980s.

The actor was cast as Yosser Hughes, a working-class Liverpool man in The Black Stuff and its sequel, Boys from the Blackstuff, in 1982.

His character was a man struggling to do the right thing after becoming unemployed and coining the term ‘gizza job’ (meaning ‘give us a job’) became a common refrain among protesters in Thatcherite Britain.

The sequel won a Bafta for best drama series in 1983 and was listed as the seventh best TV show ever made on the British Film Institute’s list in 2000.

The same year he played the role of Sergeant Putnam in Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning biopic Gandhi, before starring in the 1983 BBC adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play Henry VI, playing the Duke of York.

He would later be cast as Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s massive film Titanic.

In the 1997 film, he played the captain of the infamous ship on what would be its first and only voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, before going down with the ship after it struck an iceberg.

It marked the beginning of a late career renaissance for Hill, who was subsequently cast by Peter Jackson in the role of King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The actor was praised for his portrayal of the embattled King of Rohan, who bravely fights to save his people from the forces of evil.

Hollywood kept calling, with Hill making appearances in Dwayne Johnson vehicle The Scorpion King, Halle Berry horror film Gothika and the tennis-themed romantic comedy Wimbledon.

He continued to appear regularly on British television before being cast in the BBC drama Wolf Hall in 2015.

Adapted from Hilary Mantel’s historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell, Hill portrayed the Duke of Norfolk in the show’s first series, before being replaced by Timothy Spall in the second.

He is due to return to our screens once again tonight, with a role in Martin Freeman’s BBC show The Responder.

The actor lived in Suffolk and is survived by his wife Marianna Hill and their son Gabriel.