Actor Bernard Hill dies aged 79: Lord of the Rings and Titanic star set to appear opposite Martin Freeman in BBC drama tonight 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 1997 Oscar-winning film, died in the early hours of this morning, his agent has said.

A father-of-one, he became known to a generation for his portrayal of King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In the process he starred in two films - Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - which won 11 Oscars and crossed $1billion at the box office.

Hill had first become familiar to many in the UK for his emotive and nuanced performance as Yosser Hughes in the 1980s drama Boys from the Blackstuff, a role that also brought him to the attention of Hollywood.

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

The Manchester native had a varied on-screen career, coming to prominence acting in small realistic dramas, before going on to star in films that made billions worldwide.

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

After bit roles in Hard Labour and the poorly received but now acclaimed I, Claudius, he got his first major break in the early 1980s.

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

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

He would later be cast as Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron's gargantuan film, Titanic. 

The 1997 movie saw him play the captain of the infamous vessel on what would be its maiden and only voyage across the Atlantic, before going down with the ship after it hit an iceberg.

It marked the start of a late career renaissance for Hill, who was then chosen 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 valiantly 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 make regular appearances on British television, before being cast in the 2015 BBC drama Wolf Hall. 

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

He had been due to return to our screens once more tonight, with a role in Martin Freeman's BBC show The Responder.

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

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