Bernard Hill, actor in the "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings" movies, has died at the age of 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who gave a rousing cry of encouragement before leading his people into battle in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and who sank with the ship as the captain in "Titanic", has died.
Hill, 79, passed away Sunday morning, his agent Lou Coulson said.
Hill joined the Lord of the Rings franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002's The Two Towers, as Théoden, King of Rohan. The following year, he repeated the role in "The Return of the King", a movie that won 11 Academy Awards.
In one of the movie's most memorable scenes, Hill's character encourages his superior forces by uttering a battle cry on horseback that causes his troops to hurtle down the slope toward the enemy and their own imminent doom.
"Stand up, stand up, riders of Theoden!" shouts Hill. "Spears shake, shields splinter into splinters! Day of the sword, red day, before the sun rises! Ride! Ride! Ride! Ride to doom and the end of the world! Death! Death! Death!"
In the movie Titanic, Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one of the only characters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic romance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The movie also won 11 Academy Awards.
As the doomed ship takes on water, Hill's hero silently retreats to the wheelhouse. As the wheelhouse groans under the pressure of the waves, he takes one last breath and grips the wheel as the water rushes in through the windows.
Hill first rose to fame as Yosser Hughes in "The Black Label Boys", a 1982 British television mini-series about five unemployed men.
In 1983, he was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for the role, and the series won the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series.
His death came on the same day that the second series of BBC drama The Answer, in which he played the father of series star Martin Freeman, was due to air.
Bernard Hill blazed a trail on screen and his long career, filled with iconic and remarkable roles, is testament to his incredible talent", said Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama. "Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time".